Blind Valentine v2
by keemew2
Summary: v2.0 Relena, with help from Trowa, drags Quatre an Dorothy into a blind date,but whats this? Ditching bodygaurds? Switching clothes in a gas station? Getting lost in a carnival? Another assasine? Just what kinda date is this? QD sequal to Christmas
1. The Date

k2: Me and romance don't mix very well, that is all I have to say about this.

MK: Romance. One day, eventually, you might be able to write a good one.

K2: Do I really want to? O.o;

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k2: Eh…one other thing! This is the second upload for BV for one simple reason. I was so stressed out from worrying about this revamp, along with the Christmas revamp; which I kinda forgot to mention came before this one, that I forgot about spell check. And, well, since I have very poor typing skills due to be pretty fast, I have major mistakes that need fixed with spell check. Sorry for those who read this before and here is the better version.

Thank you **f U n N i E b O n E s 2K** for alerting this to me and thank you **mariel4000** for reminding me to get it done.

MK: Don't forget though, this is the sequel to Christmas, so go read that first! Oh, and neither of us owns anything, another thing we forgot.

K2: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

**111break111**

Disclaimer: Do I _have_ to say it? I mean, my goodness! If I owned anything do you really think the series would have turned out the way it did? Do you really think it would have been ended like that?

MK: Just say it.

K2: Fine! But only once! I dun own it! So there. I do, however, own this fic and the originality of it. IT is original, isn't it?

MK: (shrugs)

K2: Oh, wait! I forgot, I had raised the rating by one notch for the first three chapters but raised it up two notches instead because of the fourth chapter being, well…a bit on the iffy side. So the rating is now PG-13. You'll see why. Sorry if you liked my story but not high-ish ratings.

**111break111**

Blind Valentine

Ch.1- The date

Rated: PG

**111break111**

Quatre sifted through the papers on his desk, slightly apprehensive. He really needed a pen at the moment, but he couldn't find one! Why couldn't he ever find a pen when he needed one?

Apprehensive much? One would think, but that emotion couldn't even begin to describe how Quatre felt. Scared to death was closer. He couldn't believe Trowa, of all people, got him into this mess! I mean…Trowa!

_He's been reading to many romance novels._ Quatre thought glumly as he opened his desk drawer. He reached inside for a pen and hit a smooth surface instead. Looking down he saw a picture. He stared at it for several minutes, then pulled it out. The picture was of a dark haired woman with sapphire eyes. In the picture she looked around twenty-four years old or so.

Quatre sighed as a memory crept its way into his mind, filling his stomach with a nauseating sensation.

_Flashback_

_"Shantaya?"_

_The woman looked up from her book, startled to see who had approached her. Seeing Quatre staring at her, hesitatingly, she smiled and cocked her head. She looked lovely in the pose, but at the same time she released an heir of a fox waiting to pounce. A feeling that Quatre was incredibly uncomfortable with._

"_Quatre! What a lovely suprise! What may I do for you?"_

_"Can we talk?" he asked softly._

_She giggled "Is that why you came here today?"_

_Quatre blushed at the obviousness. "Yes, of course. Um…" He hesitated, not sure how to put it. "Do you really love me?" She looked at him, surprise evident on her young features. Quatre felt confusion cloud over the predatory feeling, but at the same time their was a calculating presence hanging over her._

_"Why do you ask that?"_

_"Well, since both our fathers have passed on," Quatre felt sick at mentioning it, "I thought that…well…I want to break the contract." He blurted it out as fast as he could._

_Shantaya stared Quatre in shock for several seconds. Then, to Quatre's horror, her face slowly began to twist into a mask of rage. "What?" She cried_

"_I want to break the marital contract our fathers set up on my first birthday." Quatre continued, a little more strongly then before. He had thought he would be breaking her heart, but if this was her reaction…._

"_You can't do that Quatre!" She cried, furious, "That was our fathers last wishes!"_

"_Somehow," Quatre began, "I get the feeling you could care less about our dear fathers last wishes."_

"_How dare you?"_

"_How dare you, Shantaya." Quatre murmured, First off, I found a few of my father's old journal entries in his computer. He mentioned he was thinking about ending it anyway. Second of all, you talk about our fathers just now when, since both my father and your father's deaths, respectively, you haven't shed one real tear. Shantaya…it's not fair that I get stuck in an arranged marriage that was about to be dissolved anyway. I'm only seventeen; I don't even want to get married yet. Especially to you. I'm sorry."_

_"So, is this it?" She sneered, "Are you just going to drop the contract and that's it?" Quatre nodded, "Is there no way I can sued you to reconsider?" He shook his head "GET OUT!"_

_Quatre stared at her for a moment the anger radiating off her. And the contempt. Quatre shook her head and slowly made his way out._

_End flash back_

Quatre shuddered slightly and through the entire picture into the trash. There was no way he could ever see her again, not after that reaction. He had liked her, to an extent, but nothing more. And now he knew what she was really like.

"Quatre are you coming or not?" a soft voice asked from the doorway of the office room. Quatre looked up to see Trowa leaning against the door jam with his arms crossed and a slight smile on his face. "From what I remember, this is supposed to be a break from work."

"Those were my original intentions, Trowa, but I just can't help it." Quatre replied, "When I'm nervous I try and keep my mind on other things. Work just happens to work the best."

"What's to be nervous about?"

Quatre looked at Trowa, his expression speaking volumes. "Tonight of course. I didn't realize that Miss. Relena would have such a cruel side. I mean this is ridiculous! What ever gave her the insane notion that a blind date would be the best thing for me? And you, Trowa, of all people helped her!"

Trowa's smile grew, a mischievous glint alighting as well. "I did no such thing." Trowa halfheartedly defended himself, "She is the one who dragged me into this. She approached me, Quatre, literally. She came to me, while I was feeding my lions."

"Uhuh." Quatre could feel Trowa's amusement. This whole thing was just for his entertainment!

_And supposedly for my own good too._

"She approached you because you're the closest person to me she knows." Quatre muttered in response. Hearing this Trowa's smile faltered, a brief hint of something fluttering through him to fast for Quatre to catch. He had an idea, though, of what it was and he felt a small sort of longing nag at his heartstrings.

"How did your meeting with Shantaya go?" Trowa changed the subject.

Startled by Trowa's abruptness Quatre froze, the memory of just a moment ago coming back.

_GET OUT!_

It was hard. Quatre didn't want to tell Trowa what happened, what he had felt from her. Quatre knew, for a fact, that Trowa would worry about it. The last thing Quatre wanted to do was make Trowa worry, especially when the one Trowa would be worrying over was Quatre.

Besides, it wasn't like he would ever see Shantaya again, right?

"I said I didn't think it would work out." Quatre turned his back on Trowa, pretending to shuffle his papers on his desk.

Trowa looked at his friend thoughtfully. "What was her reply?"

"She-she agreed." Quatre felt distressed. He didn't like lying to his lo-…his best friend. It was distasteful and he felt sick about it.

But it was also the only way to keep Trowa from worrying! "So where are we going anyway?" Quatre mimicked Trowa

"Chez Bouquet."

Quatre chuckled when he heard the name. "Figures." He stated. "Of course Miss. Relena would choose the fanciest place in Cinq."

The fanciest didn't even begin to describe it really. The Boquet was the highest ranked restaurant outside the colonies, people of high class choosing that restaurant when they had important dinner meetings and luncheons. It also catered to high-class parties. Relena was no exception.

"Of course." Trowa replied

Standing up Quatre grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair and put it on. With Trowa in toe, the two of them headed out of the office and into the dark hallway beyond.

"By the way, aren't you worried about what Hiiro will do when he finds out that you are going with Miss. Relena on a double date." Quatre asked with a sly grin.

Trowa just stared at his friend for moment before replying. "Relena promised that she would take care of that little detail. The only reason I'm going along with this is because I'm worried about your date."

Quatre quirked his eyebrow. Trowa had mentioned that earlier, too. What could it be about his 'date' that would make Trowa concerned in any way? It was only when someone actively threatened Quatre that Trowa began to worry, or when Quatre himself showed signs of needing concern.

Mentally shrugging the thought aside, for now, Quatre grinned at his enigmatic friend.

"As vague as always, aren't you my friend?"

"Of course."

"I don't suppose you could tell me one thing, could you?" Quatre asked as he turned to look at Trowa again

"Yes?"

"Do you think this will take my mind off Miss Dorothy?" Quatre felt Trowa's impassiveness break apart as uncertainty made it's way to the fore. A possible twinge of guilt? No, not quite. IT was something more, something….

_Trowa still regrets his decision._ Quatre thought to himself, _Even though he was right, he wishes he had accepted my offer._

But what has that to do with my question? And why do I cynical understanding within him? And yes, that was a twinge of guilt. Why?

And then there was nothing. Trowa closed himself off, cutting any brief contact off swiftly and precisely. He knew that Quatre was special, had known about it a long time. HE also knew that Quatre didn't have complete control of his growing abilities and he also knew that Quatre wouldn't force himself on anyone either.

Quatre looked at Trowa curiously, suspiciously, but Trowa was as impassive as ever. And when he spoke his words were slow, precise, and cautious. He was choosing them carefully, so as not to allow anything to slip.

"I can't really promise you that."

_What is he up too?_

"Why not?" Quatre asked, irritated at the fact that Trowa had learned to guard his mind so well (as well as pleased. He really didn't like to intrude even if he couldn't' control his own curiosity).

"Well, you seem to think about Miss. Catalonia a lot." Trowa replied in an offhanded nature. "So much so that I'm just not sure a blind date with another person would work."

Quatre frowned as he thought about that. It was Valentines Day and, for the last two months, Quatre could not stop thinking about Dorothy. Ever since last Christmas…and that kiss. The kiss that still left a burning sensation on his lips whenever he thought about it. The kiss that, for longest time, was the first and only kiss he had ever received.

By anyone, and not just a girl.

Quatre could still remember the way she looked that night. Could still remember the way she smelled, the way her body moved as she swept in for that one single moment of eternity. And the feelings it left behind were unbearable!

The worst part about the situation was that Dorothy was going to be signing a merger with him in a month. Dorothy had the distinct impression that getting into bed (metaphorically speaking) with the Winner Corp. would help her in the long run. Of course, Quatre thought it was a good idea too, at the beginning. That was six months ago, though. The share holders of her company had been hard pressed to sell their shares back to her, but with Quatre's economic genius helping out, Dorothy had finally managed to return her grandfathers business back into a privately owned facility. And once the merger was complete the two of them would be the sole owners of _the_ largest economic industries in the solar system.

But how was he supposed to be a finical business partner with someone he had mixed feelings for? He wasn't sure he could handle a merger with these kinds of circumstances. He wasn't sure if even his father could.

When they finally reached the den Quatre grabbed the car keys off the wall, heading to the door. Trowa hesitated in following, a slight glint in his eye as the ring of the keys touched his hearing. Catching his friends hesitation Quatre looked over his shoulder.

"Trowa?"  
"Can I drive?"

"No." There was no hesitation in Quatre's words, just a quick to the point denial of the request. Trowa, a little disappointed, chuckled nonetheless.

"Of course not."

"Are we meeting them at the Bouquet or picking them up." Quatre asked as the two headed for the garage door.

"Relena thought it would be fun if we met there."

"Oh." _Fun?_ Quatre thought. He shook his head a little, rather unsure what to think. Relena sure had been acting awfully playful lately, and not just playful! She was down right out of character lately! It was beginning to step into the line of bizarre!

When the two of them reached the garage Quatre flipped the light on and looked around himself. Spotting the midnight blue convertible amid the menagerie of cars Quatre rushed over to it, patting it with a smile. Opening the driver's side he sat down, wriggling comfortably in the soft leather.

"I haven't driven this thing for quite some time." Quatre murmured, "It's nice to be in it again."

"Yes." Trowa replied as he got in, "It must be a real hassle to have a chuefurre drive you every where.

Quatre ignored his friend's jab as he started the engine. The fact that Trowa's sense of humor was growing had originally delighted Quatre, but now…the guy was way to eager to show how far he'd come form the almost emotionless stoic boy he'd been during the war. The changes in Trowa were amazing. He smiled more, for one. And they weren't sad or sardonic smiles either. They were happy. Trowa was truly happy living with his sister and working at the circus. It made Quatre happy to know that, though he did sometimes wish Trowa could have been happy living with him, too….

Trowa still had compassion issues, of course. He showed more compassion towards animals then most people and Quatre was sure that it would take a long time before Trowa could show compassion towards enemies. Him and Hiiro were alike in that regard. Glancing at Trowa again Quatre smiled softly. There were far more dimensions to him then one would first think.

As Quatre pulled away from the estate he sighed contentedly before stepping on the gas peddle.

**111break111**

"Where are they?" Relena growled, as she looked first one way, then the other. She stood with her arms crossed and her foot tapping, irritated. It was cold out here, her breath showing as whitely as she snow around her and she wasn't the biggest on patience today, especially because of a couple of certain sombodies. Glancing over her shoulder at those 'certain sombodies' Relena harumphed. Two black suited men, standing near the restaurant. Bodyguards. They were currently talking to Quatre's date and the only thing Relena could see of her was her long corn silk colored hair. She was hoping beyond hope they weren't telling her anything otherwise Relena would be forced to kill them. She still couldn't' believe Hiiro of all people had issued them to her. Hiiro! Sure, she expected something like that from Milliard but not Hiiro. And it was all because of what happened during Christmas!

She remembered the incident like it was yesterday. The pain in her heart, as she came to the realization, a false but one nonetheless, that Hiiro didn't care for her. The confusion she had felt after his kiss. The fear as her life was threatened and the fear in her heart as she watched Hiiro's struggle. It had been after the battle, after Quatre's injuries were bandaged, her three ex-pilots gathered together to talk about what had happened. The head of her personal security had been apart of the meeting also under her insistence. It had never been stated who it was the man was after, so all the socialites and dignitaries at her party had to be warned of this. They all had to be careful.

"_Especially the two of you."_ Wufei had said. '…the two of you.' meaning her and Quatre. It had been too dark at the time to see who Quatre was clearly and the man hadn't recognized Relena either until Quatre mentioned her name. And the way Quatre had referred to her as 'Miss Relena' in his usual politeness only added to the misunderstanding of who he was. The target could have been any one of them and that was all Hiiro cared about. So when Hiiro had heard about this 'double date' her and Trowa were putting together he immediately (after, of course, getting over his slight irritation at her going on a date with Trowa) assigned one of his hand picked Preventors to be her bodyguard, throwing in a second one for Quatre's date. After all, the girl had been at the party too and could also be a target. He hadn't' said anything about it at the time, but Relena had the distinct impression that he didn't want Quatre's date to go badly and that the bodyguard was for more then 'her' safety.

But the point of the matter was she was being baby-sat. She hated to be baby-sat by professional men. She had enough of that when she was the figurehead of the Romafeller foundation as Queen of the World.

The sound of screeching tires tore through her thoughts and she looked quickly at the street just as a beautiful blue convertible took a sharp turn around the corner and came to a halt in front of the Bouquet. She stood stunned as a familiar blond stepped out of the car elegantly while another familiar face jumped out of the passenger's side. The blond was blushing rather brightly and rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as he gave his car keys to a hesitant valet. Crossing her arms angrily she quickly stormed up to the two irresponsible youths.

"Quatre Reberba Winner!" she cried furiously causing him to blush again. "Trowa Barton! What the heck do you think your doing? There are speed limits here you know and that was way defiantly over!"

Quatre blushed even harder at her reprimand which dissolved her anger. Her face softened and she relaxed her shoulders in resignation, a small smile encroaching her lips. "You make it very hard to be mad at Quatre. It's very nice to see you again." She pulled him in for a hug then stepped back and offered her hand to Trowa. "And you too, Trowa."

"The pleasure is all mine Miss. Relena." Quatre replied with an elegant bow, his cheeks still red, before straightening and looking around for his date.

Trowa, glancing at her hand, swept it up and bowed down to brush his lips gently against it.

"Of course Relena, The pleasure is always that of a gentleman." He replied as he straightened again.

"You are a gentleman." She stated with a blush. Turning back to Quatre she said, "Your date is by the restaurant…what's the matter?"

Quatre was standing, frozen, with a look of shock on his face as he stared at the woman he presumed to be his date.

**111break111**

When Quatre had stepped out of the car he'd already been a little embarrassed, knowing full well he'd taken that turn to sharply. Miss Relena's anger only made matters worse, but it was the worry he felt inside her that got to him the most. She was…very concerned for him. SO Quatre had blushed even deeper, not really thinking her concern was needed but gracious nonetheless. Miss Relena was a very kind hearted person and he didn't want her to fret over him.

After they had greeted each other Quatre began to look around for his 'date' wondering who it could be. That was when he'd spotted her. As the two suited men stepped away to talk to each other in private Quatre saw the last person he'd ever expected to see. Long corn silk blond hair framed by a black headband was the first thing to catch his eye. Then the elegant arched eyebrows with that little fork at the ends that rested above her beautiful blue gray eyes. The handsome slender nose that led the way to her full lips. The very lips that had stolen the virginity of his own on that fateful Christmas night.

His eyes left her lips to travel down, down to follow the curvature of her long slender neck as it connected to her bare shoulders, milky smooth skin mingling with a lacy gray shawl.

Quatre briefly heard Relena say his name but it sounded distant to his ears. Then a hand was on his shoulder and he came back to himself to see brown eyes starring at him intently.

"Trowa…." Quatre gasped, "What is going on here?"

"A date." Trowa replied, concerned.

Quatre looked at her again. She had caught sight of him and was starring back in turn. She looked just as shocked as he felt. _Felt_ as shocked but also…pleased. _Very_ pleased. That same predatory sensation coursing through her, causing Quatre to feel helpless in her presence. Quatre watched, fearful, as she began to walk towards him, her hips moving enticingly as she walked. Quatre swallowed. Her entire appearance was that same predatory feel. The dress she wore hugged closely around her shapely body, the 'skirt' of the dress cascading into a pool of ivory that she had to hold in her hands in order to walk.

Quatre turned back to Trowa, desperate. "Do you think this is some sort of joke?"

"No." Trowa replied. He seemed a little stunned, uncertain. He was beginning to rethink his decision, but only for a moment. The moment ended quickly and certainty took it's place once again. "I would not joke about something like this Quatre."

"I thought you said I was going with someone else?"

"No, I said that seeing someone else wouldn't solve your problem."

Quatre breathed out slowly, trying to calm himself down. It still bothered him that he continuously felt nervous around her, that his emotions got away from him. His heart raced, his hands began to sweat…and yet…the thought of her turning her back on him made his stomach flip-flop.

_I don't know if I can go through with this._ Quatre thought,_ Dorothy. Of all people. Relena planned this, I just know she did. She has been spending too much time with Dorothy._

"Quatre Winner." Dorothy stated in a voice that made Quatre's throat dry, "A pleasure to see you again."

"The pleasure is all mine Miss. Dorothy." Quatre responded eloquently. He showed nothing of what he was feeling, putting his game face on. He knew it would be the only way to survive this encounter. He had to admit though, he did seem to sense a sort of uncertainty within her and it made him feel a little better.

"Please, no formalities." Relena interjected. "This is an evening of relaxation. This is a way we can all get to know each other better, see?"

Quatre and Dorothy both nodded and they began to walk towards the Bouquet. As they did Dorothy's thoughts began to race around her own mind. _How am I supposed to go through this?_ She thought mildly,_ I asked Miss. Relena to help me get Quatre off my mind, not set me up on a date with him. She's getting sneaky, the first sign that she spends to much time with me when I'm in town._ She glanced over at Quatre and her heart leapt. Her knees wanted to collapse beneath her, but she didn't want to show any weakness in front of him. No, not him. The only man who had ever broken through her barriers, the only living person who could work that sort of miracle.

And it scared her to death.

"Shall we enter?" Relena asked, breaking into Dorothy's thoughts. "We do, after all, have a reservation to use." She ushered everyone forward excitedly.

As they entered Quatre felt a sudden surge of foreboding, as if he were being watched. An insidious premonition entering his heart as someone, somewhere expressed thereself. He turned around, looking into the darkness, scanning the surroundings and trying to pinpoint what it was he was feeling and where it was stemming from. But the feeling seemed to disappear, almost as if he'd imagined it.

_Had I?_ He wondered briefly.

"Quatre?" the blond turned to see Trowa looking at him with quizzical eyes and an impassive face. "What's wrong?"

Quatre shook his head. "I'm not sure. Something…feels wrong."

"Are you sure?" The question was quick and contemplative, said with the mind of a soldier. Caught off guard Quatre looked back at Trowa, seeing a glint in his eyes. The soldier was beginning to surface and that was a bad sign.

"I'm sure it was just my imagination Trowa." Quatre stated slowly, his tone convincing. Trowa stared a moment, then nodded and turned to continue inside, Quatre following. Trowa was a smart person, but it was important to remind him of one thing at the moment. HE was a civilian. Whatever it was Quatre had sensed it was the wrong time to check up on it. There wasn't' anything they could do at the moment.

Relena, wondering why it was they were lagging behind, poked her head out of the restaurant. "What is taking you two so long?"  
"I was asking Torwa a question." Quatre replied instantly, "Sorry Miss. Relena."

"Quatre, once more. No formalities and _please_ stop apologizing for everything, okay?"

Quatre nodded his head as he and Trowa entered. Leaving the walk empty. As they did a figure stepped out of the shrubbery from across the street, blue eyes sparkling in the night sky as he watched his targets location.

**111break111**

k2: Ya know…last time this chapter was a lot longer, wasn't' it?

MK: You can't tell me your gone stop it here!

k2: Everyone already knows what's gonna happen, so why not?

MK: They're gonna kill you.

k2: I never said I was actually gonna stop it. It was just an idea.

MK: (stares) O.o;;

k2: (grins) On with the show!

**111break111**

As they were seated at their table Quatre took note that the guards sat at another table, but still relatively close by. Dorothy, eyeing them critically, grumped slightly. "I really do wish Mr. Yui hadn't sent these two guards out to watch us. It's rather…disturbing to have my movements watched at every turn."

"It's for your protection though, isn't it?" Quatre asked, a little relieved the guards _were_ here.

"Yes. It's precautionary Dorothy, you know that." Relena replied

"I'm guessing they still haven't figured out who the assassin was after?" Trowa asked

"No." Relena replied softly. "Which reminds me, has your stitches come out yet Quatre?"

Quatre winced a little at the memory and nodded. It was uncomfortable to remember, especially because of what he'd been forced to do.

"I believe that makes twice now, Quatre, that you've been stabbed." Trowa remarked to his friend.

Quatre felt a wash of guilt enter their location and quickly flicked his eyes to Dorothy. Her face was calm, but her eyes showed slight regret that vanished almost immediately. Trowa, noticing this as well, gave himself a mental reprimand about tact.

"Actually," Quatre stated, "I was only grazed this time." Quatre felt a deepening sorrow build up and he realized that the conversation was starting to get to Dorothy, something he didn't think was possible. It was almost…a relief really, to be feeling this from her. It made her appear more human, less predatory.

_But why does it matter so much the way she appears?_

As it was Dorothy was indeed feeling guilty about the conversation, but more she felt despair. _He hates me. _Her thoughts were on a rampage, _He'd never forgive me. I should never have come, he never wanted me here. The look on his face earlier only confirms it._

Quatre quickly changed the subject, beginning to feel uncomfortable with the deepness of Dorothy's sadness.

"Miss Relena, how is your current status with Hiiro" I haven't heard anything since the Christmas Party. He's been living with you, correct?"

Relena nodded, slumping a bit. "With no idea of what doctor J did to Hiiro when he was fourteen, we can't possibly help him recover his old life. He may have most of his memories but they are quite faded. The most Hiiro can remember of the procedure itself is only bits and pieces from when he was conscious. The fact that he was driven half mad as his emotions were stripped from him…it still bothers me. The only thing I can do to help him is to be there for him as he rebuilds a new life, hopefully salvaging what he can of his past. Other wise…forget it entirely. That is the last thing I want him to do though…."

There was a slight awkward silence after that and Quatre was beginning to feel it best that his friends know about his empathy abilities before they pour their souls out to him. He was actually rather bored with this scenario and thought it was rather typical to have a date here. It just felt so…impersonal.

"Is anyone really hungry?" Quatre asked in regards to his own thoughts, surprising himself as well as everyone else. "I was just wondering."

"Why, are you?" Relena asked

"No, not really. I get the distinct feeling that was the point."

"Well, then let's skip dinner." Relena ignored his second statement as the others looked at her curiously. "I pretty much have the whole evening planned and dinner, as you guessed Quatre, isn't really important tonight. I will be right back."

Standing, Relena excused herself and walked over to the two suits, smiling pleasantly. A look Quatre had seen on her when dealing with tricky dignitaries and fools who thought they could use her 'naiveté' against her. There was an exchange of words, the men looked decidedly anxious, then worried, then almost panicky. Relena glanced over at them, cocked her head, and the men exchanged nervous glances, looked at them as well. Quatre felt their quizzical emotions floating around confused worry. There was slight fear inside and Quatre was getting an idea of the conversation as Relena's…diplomatic side took a turn for the worst; for the two body guards.

When all was said and done the two men got up, glanced over at their table again with a series of mixed emotions, then headed out of the restaurant. When Relena returned Quatre was unable to remain silent.

"Miss. Relena," HE began, "Dare I ask what you said?"

Relena smiled softly, a feeling of mischievous excitement over coming her, something he rarely ever felt with her (actually he'd only ever felt it once other then the multitude of times he's felt it today), which only caused him to worry.

"I told them that we were going to head for home and didn't need them. I told them they were relieved of duty tonight."

"And they believed you?" Quatre asked as she took a sip of water.

"Of course. They have no reason not to."

_She is definitely lying._ Quatre thought to himself, torn between laughing with a well done for Relena or say for shame and call them back, reprimanding the woman next to him for being a bad influence on Relena. He decided against the forming and mentally berating for even thinking of the latter.

"They do now." Dorothy replied to Relena with a soft devilish smile of her own. "It's nice to see having some fun Relena."

Quatre was forced to agree with that. Lord knows she needs some. She'd been spending most of her efforts on her duty and the rest on helping Hiiro regain his lost past. So he just smiled and took a sip of water himself, waiting for Relena to continue.

"I'll just tell Hiiro and Milliard that it was all my idea." She continued, knowing full well that was the general consensus of a few minds. "It is, after all, the truth."

"I guess one night won't hurt anything." Quatre murmured thoughtfully. The belligerent emotion from outside had indeed disappeared and he had pretty much forgot about them as a result. Relena's reckless abandon for the night was a contagion that was beginning to sweep him away and he found himself ready and willing to comply to her wishes.

As scary as that sounded.

He really needed to learn to control his ability more. Two years wasn't nearly enough time when you have all the responsibilities that Quatre had.

And of all the occupants of the room, the only none delegate watched as the three before him through all their cares away to act like anything _but_ delegates, embracing the nature of teenagers. Trowa found it highly amusing, and very interesting. Close observation would give him a better understanding of true human nature.

"Now then." Relena began "First thing I want to do, is to change my clothes." She looked at the people gathered around her, smiling at their confused expressions. "I took the liberty of getting something for all of you, though the only person aside from myself that I even _know_ the size of is Dorothy. So I guessed. I do hope they fit."

As the only brave enough to ask, Dorothy spoke up. "What are you talking about?"

"I came prepared, what else?" Standing, she walked over to one of the waitresses, talking for a moment, and came to sit back down while the woman walked away. "It will only take a moment." Relena said and sipped more water.

After a short while the waitress came back, a smile of her own on her face, and handed the bag to Relena. "Here you are Reel. Let me know ho wit goes, okay?" And then left to finish her job. Relena stood up and motioned for the others to follow them out of the restaurant. If there was a bill involved in this evening Relena must have either already taken care of it, or charged it.

"Who was she?" Dorothy asked as they left the Bouquet.

"AN old friend of mine." Relena replied, "Before life got complicated. She's managed to salvage what she could of hers. I found out she worked here about a month ago, a real relief mind you." She turned to glance at Quatre, "We'll have to take your car, you don't' mind do you?"

"No, not at all Miss Relena."

"No formalities!" Relena cried, exasperated.

"Sorry." Quatre felt an eruption of warmth over come Dorothy and kept himself from looking at her. His confusion was beginning to break him in half, each side of him thinking alternate thoughts. AS the valet drove up in Quatre's car, handing the keys to him, Quatre wondered if Dorothy might be, in fact, hiding her insecurities inside that predatory compulsion of hers.

Quatre, may I ask you something before we start?" Relena asked quickly

"Of course."  
"Drive safely, okay?"

Quatre blushed a little and began to open the passenger side door as he spoke. "Of course Miss…uh, I mean Relena."

"And Quatre, that's Trowa's job. You open the front passenger side for _Dorothy_ remember?"

Quatre blushed even more. The thought of Trowa opening and closing a door for someone was rather bizarre really, he'd never seen his friend do it before. Then again, he'd never seen him bow gracefully and kiss a ladies hand either.

"Sorry."  
"And stop apologizing so much."

"Umm…or course."

Quatre was now crimson red, feeling a tad embarrassed. Relena smiled kindly at him and next to him Dorothy seemed quite amused.

"You are adorable when you blush, Quatre." She murmured to him.

A lump entered Quatre's throat and his face heated up. When they were all in the car Quatre turned to Relena.

"So…where exactly are we going?"

**111break111**

k2: O.o…umm…okay.

MK: Defiantly different K.

K2: Uhuh.

MK: I'm kinda curious as to what you will do with the rest of this. I think it may actually end up a romance!

K2: NO! This is supposed to be different then all the rest of the Q/D Fics out there!

MK: Girl, it is. Believe me, it is.

k2: Oi. Umm…please guys. Tell me if this is better or worse in any way then the original. I did change quite a bit of it, after all.

MK: Oh, yeah. I think some of them may be wondering what the deal is with Quatre, you know, the way he kept thinking about Trowa earlier in the chap?

K2: Uheh…um, yes. That. Well, through a bit of research, and finding some novel excerpts in I found a particular excerpt that was an extension of ep 43. In it Quatre tries to say something to Trowa after Trowa has used the Wing Zero gundam.

MK: That particular scene only proved that Quatre and Trowa felt something for each other during the war. But then again, Quatre was quite naive back then, he'd been quite isolated during his life.

K2: That hardly holds relevance. Point is, it was cannon.

MK: Not only that, however, but we also found, in the same excerpt, another side to Quatre and Dorothy's Zero system battle where she was controlling the mobile dolls.

K2: Yep. Basically Quarter saw inside her head. So I decided to keep that bit of info.

MK: And no, we don't' claim any of it, just to ad to the disclaimer.

K2: Uh, boy. Definitely not.

MK: So anyway! R&R guys! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?


	2. Surprises

Keemew2: Now that chappie one is done here is a chappie two.

MK: Every chapter updated at once is nicer then waiting forever for each one, isn't it?

K2: Yeah, yeah, don't count on it happening a lot.

MK: (winks) I'll see what I can do.

k2: Disclaimer is the same as before peeps. I refuse to do the same thing for every chapter. Every story is another matter though.

MK: You should prolly use this chap to add in the Newtype Theory in the disclaimer though.

k2: WHY'D YOU HAVE TO GO AND MENTION THAT! I could've gotten away with that one!

MK: Not with the vultures hounding oyu like dogs!

K2: Oh, good point. DRAT! The Newtype Theory I have developed, explaining Quatre, was derived from Toei animations Gundam series, Mobile Suit: Gundam and all it's spin offs. The theory will later be elaborated on in the next story which several of you should remember. Gundam Wing Generations. Happy now?

MK: Yes. Very. No lawsuit is a good thing.

K2: (grumbles irritably)

**111break111**

Blind Valentine

Ch. 2- Surprises

General….

Rated PG-13

**111break111**

Quatre drove the convertible down the road silently. No one knew quite what to think about his or her current situation and it kind of bothered them slightly. Relena had told Quatre to head for the nearest gas station then proceeded to hand each of them a small parcel from the bag she held. When they reached the gas station (which was, thankfully, empty of customers at the time) they were then told to go into the Men's Room and change their clothes. Relena then drug Dorothy into the women's room with her, leaving the boys alone. They exchanged brief glances with each other but left it at that. Neither dared to ask 'what could it hurt' and they both chose, instead, to remain silent about the matter.

Quatre slowly unwrapped his parcel and examined each piece accordingly. He could only assume she had decided to spend the rest of the night on the town, amidst people who would surly recognize them, due to the fact that he held a pair of blue jeans. Quite common really, everyone seemed to where them. Duo and Trowa being no exception.

Quatre pulled out the white pair of sneakers that lay within the parcel and checked the size, seeing with interest that they were only half a size to big. Other then the sneakers and jeans there were a pair of socks, a black T-shirt with the words 'Wild Thing' (Quatre could only think it was wry humor on Relena's part) in wild lettering, and a black hat. Upon double-checking the outfit piece by piece he couldn't help but think of Duo as he did. Once the outfit was on he even _felt_ like Duo. This was defiantly something Duo would wear.

_If I find out Duo was in on this and had given Relena tips on wardrobe…. I may have to severely hurt someone._

As he walked out of the stall he saw Trowa leaning against the wall, his own parcel sealed up in his hands where Quatre could only assume his evening wear now lay. For instead of the nice three piece he had worn before he now sported a bright red short sleeved shirt with the words 'Cool Machine' written in a bold black curvy format, a shadow extending from the words at the bottom. Aside from that, and the fact that his cap was red, Trowa's outfit was the same as Quatre's. The two boys looked at each other for a long moment, neither one speaking. As Quatre took in his best friends appearance, Trowa took in Quatre's.

"You look that same." Quatre murmured

"You look like Duo." Trowa observed

"This is something Duo would wear." Quatre replied.

"Incredible coincidence." Trowa stated, "Duo had nothing at all to do wit this venture. I wonder when the last time Relena saw him was…."

"Inadvertently is my guess." Quatre stated as he crossed his arms.

Trowa hid a smile behind his hand and the two of them walked out of the room together.

I must admit though," Trowa, murmured after a moment as they walked, "You _do_ look good in that outfit. Really."

Quatre felt a slight blush come to his face; it was nice to hear Trowa compliment him like that.

"You should dress casual more often."

This, however, irritated Quatre.

"I do dress casual." Quatre replied with a sniff, "It just so happens my form of casual is much different then yours." Quatre shifted uncomfortably in the jeans as he felt the amusement level in Trowa's mind rise slightly. The fact that Trowa was enjoying this only made his irritation on the matter grow. It probably wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that the jeans were so _tight;_ not to mention stiff. He couldn't under stand how people managed to _where_ these things so often.

When they made it outside Quatre saw the girls already out and was rather startled, expecting to end up waiting for them instead of the other way around. After his initial reaction to seeing them already out he did a second double take as he took note of their clothes.

Relena, her hair put into a ponytail and stuck through a white cap, wore a loose yellow T-shirt with kittens playing with yarn and tangled in mounds of it, white jeans and blue tennis shoes. She was laughing as Dorothy twirled in a circle whose hair, placed in a slightly high ponytail, wrapped around her as she spun. When she was done she bowed and stood in a flattering pose. Quatre's throat caught as he saw her, awed. She wore a pink form-fitting shirt with roses embroidered along the bottom edges and a silver tiara glued on with some sort of glitter, the words princess written in a curvy red lettering. Tight black jeans showed off her long slender legs and her feet bore a pair of sneakers. She wore no hat of any sort.

Relena caught sight of the boys and smiled appreciatively. She walked over, examining them with the same smile. "I'm glad I chose right." She murmured after a moment. "You look good, Trowa, in something other then a green turtleneck. As for you, Quatre." She turned to the blond, "Black is something I have always wanted to see on you. You look better then I had expected, seriously!"

Quatre adjusted the jeans again, not really liking the stiff cloth. "Why jeans?"

"Their the most common worn of course." Relena replied. "I asked several people about attire and Duo said-."  
"Duo." Quatre stated, silently swearing a death note. "Therein lies your problem."

"No, Quatre therein lies my answer." Relena waggled her finger at him, "You are actually the only one that doesn't wear jeans. Therefore, your opinions are invalid."

Quatre stared at her for a minute, his face perplexed. Then, slowly, he shook his head. "I still don't have to like them."

"Never said you had to."

"Why is Dorothy the only one not wearing a hat?"

"I say Quatre," Relena responded in exasperation, "your curiosity is worse then a kittens. I couldn't see her in one. Can you?"

Quatre blushed a little as he thought about it. Relena was right in the fact that there was asking a lot of questions, he just couldn't help it. But as he did think about it he also couldn't see Dorothy wearing a cap, though he could see her in a few different types of hats….

"Certain hats would actually enhance her natural beauty." Trowa stated as if reading Quatre's mind. Quatre stared at Trowa for a moment while the girls looked at each other. Dorothy's cheeks reddened and Quatre could feel her take the compliment gracefully and vainly. The blush was only for show, she _knew_ she was beautiful. Modesty was not something one could just act out.

So, are we all ready to go? I also have some normal coats." Relena asked

"Where to, exactly?" Dorothy asked her friend, the false modesty melting away as if it had never even been there. Which it hadn't. Quatre was quite tempted to tell her so, but that would mean hinting out his empathy. That was one thing he refused to let her know about. That was the only thing that kept him a step ahead of her, one step ahead of the predator that lurked within, hiding behind all her false facades.

"To the carnival!" Relena cried triumphantly. "I haven't been to one in quite a while now. I haven't had the time since the war started and ended. To long of a wait for my tastes. I miss it all! The rides, the games, food…." Relena trailed off with a look of utter joy, the feelings cascading out of her like a fountains mini waterfall.

"I don't think it's a good idea Relena." Trowa said suddenly, dampening the mood.

Relena looked at him, slightly pouty (A look Quatre wasn't sure was intentional or not), and asked; "Why not?"

"I don't feel like being blamed if you get hurt." Was the blunt, and rather tactless, reply. "You dragged me into this. I don't want Hiiro or your brother breathing down my neck about it."

"Oh, nonsense." Relena brushed the thought off as if it was unimportant. "Nothing will happen."

"I agree with Miss, uhh…I agree Relena." Quatre corrected himself before the excitable young woman before him could. He wondered, briefly, if she had some sort of cabin fever. She was acting quite odd….

Quatre found Trowa looking at him questioningly, then, to which Quatre could only shrug a reply. He couldn't really help himself. Relena's mood was highly contagious to an empath, though explaining that to anyone would be rather difficult.

Dorothy grinned devilishly and pointed to Trowa. "Looks like your out voted Deary."

Trowa responded by staring enigmatically at them, his mind hardening against Quatre's empathy again.

"Please don't start that Trowa." Quatre said when he saw the look and felt the hardening. Hardening himself to feelings was the worst thing Trowa could do for himself. It was like taking a step back in all the progress he'd made and it really hurt Quatre to see him do that.

"Start what?" Relena asked, confused.

"Never mind." Quatre replied, "Let's go just go. Hopefully Trowa will lighten up while we're there."

It took them a short time to get to their destination and after he parked his car Quatre got out and looked around. The carnival was year round and was carefully maintained to keep snow from harming anything. With technology at the level of today it was pretty easy to do, but accidents still could happen.

A hand on his shoulder brought Quatre's attention to Relena who was looking at him softly.

"Have you ever been to a carnival Quatre?" she asked him.

"No." He replied softly, his head nodding a fraction. "Father never had time to take me and only two or three of my sisters lived with us at the time. None of the servants were allowed to take us anywhere. My father was quite protective, if not overly so."

Both Relena and Dorothy looked at each other and, exchanging similar looks, and grinned.

"Looks like we need to show him a good time." Dorothy said

"When was the last time you two were at a carnival?" Trowa asked them. Dorothy smiled while Relena rolled her eyes.

"I only just mentioned that fifteen minutes ago Trowa." Relena replied, "I've been to busy since the war started, but before then I went quite often with my parents."

"I haven't been to one in about a year or two." Dorothy replied, "I think. The last time I went was before I enrolled into Relena's school during the war. My grandfather took me. I have been busy as well doing multiple things since. But now I am focused on one thing and one thing only. Rebuilding my grandfather's corporation to be one of peaceful relations and not one that promotes war. I am really looking forward to the merger with Winner industries. It will really help with my plans and the end results will be supremely effective, don't you think Quatre?"

"Please, let's not talk about work." Quatre replied, a little pink cheeked. She had been absolutely honest in every word she said; there was no reason to doubt her words at all. Quatre was amazed. "I am supposed to be on a vacation, remember?"

"My apologies Quatre."

"Don't worry about it."

"Come on!" Relena shouted, "I want to start!" she looked as if she was about to run off with out them, something Trowa took very seriously. He headed over to her to make sure she didn't and looked over at Quatre and Dorothy expectantly. Dorothy giggled and headed over, Quatre following, and they walked to the ticket booth.

Relena had an agenda. She knew exactly what she wanted and exactly how the night would be planned out. At first she took them on several different rides, a lot of fast spins and a couple of high rises. Those ones through your equilibrium into vertigo. One in particular, called the Terraheaven, that started out on the ground and then slowly began to rock side to side, getting higher and higher with every rock until it was completely vertical when it would then plummet down to the ground and then continue the rocking motion. A sort of build up of momentum and then it's sudden release being the only thing that really made the ride work in the first place.

"That was…interesting." Quatre said after he got off the ride, wobble kneed and more then a little off balance. He had ended up falling into Dorothy who had held him by the shoulders, her lips so close to the side of his head that he could feel her breath on his ear. Something that made his stomach flip flop and his groin swell with pain. With the added sense of desire emanating from her Quatre had quickly thrown himself forward, panicked, to fall into Trowa who held the other steady, having to lean against the rail to keep from falling since he also was unsteady.

"You okay?" Trowa asked softly.

Quatre had nodded in reply and managed a quick glance at Dorothy who had looked nonchalant, a façade to hide how putout she really was. Quatre could feel the disappointment stir within her and a sad longing touched him.

The thing was, he couldn't tell if the longing was coming from he…or himself. Mixed emotions were once again tearing at him and he had to force himself to release Trowa who seemed to feel like a security blanket.

Presently, however, they were standing at the foot of what appeared to be the climax of the evening. The event that Relena had been leading up to the whole time. The ride that had her quivering with delight. The Terra Storm.

With six arms stretching up out and over, each one holding up to six people (with a weight limit of 250 lbs. at max and 100 lbs. at minimum), it didn't look all that intimidating. When they were seated Quatre found Trowa and himself placed on the ends while the girls were placed in the middle. Dorothy, though, didn't like the idea. In the end it was him and Relena in the middle due to the fact that Dorothy was heavier then he was. A feeling of relief seemed to be settling over her when the ride began and Quatre didn't have time to ponder her motives as he and the others began to move in a circle with the ride, lifting up and down as it began.

And then it just rose. And rose. And rose. And stopped. Quatre looked around him at all the excited faces, at the people around him that were talking and holding on, white knuckled, with anticipation. He glanced at Relena, one of those many, at Dorothy, calm and excited as well, at Trowa, as stoic as ever.

And then it jerked. Quatre held on tightly as the ride jerked again and then began to turn. He didn't like this. It was different then being in a cockpit. At least he had more security around him, not some half made harness barley holding him still.

As the ride continued to turn Quatre felt the rush of excitement hit him, the rush that came with approaching the unknown advent. He held on more tightly as the ride went faster and faster still. By this time it was going so fast that Quatre was leaning into Relena, who in turn was leaning into Trowa. Dorothy was leaning into him, but he didn't have time to think about that as the ride began to tilt. While turning! Quatre made a grab for his cap, which felt as if it was going to fall off at any minute.

The ride slowed at about that point but that didn't help matters as they suddenly found themselves on their heads. Quatre felt surges of fear as he felt himself about to fall out of the ride, but the harness kept him securely trapped within the ride, even if his tushy was no longer part of the security. He kept himself from crying out as the initial rush of fear hit him, the sensation of falling off the ride at such a speed was over whelming for him.

From there the ride reversed itself, going backwards through the steps until Quatre felt his feet touch the ground. When the harness was lifted off he slowly placed his hat back on his head as he swallowed the bile threatening to spew from his stomach; he stood slowly, more wobble kneed then before. He and Trowa held onto each other for support, but Quatre had the impression that it looked more like Trowa was supporting him then they were supporting each other.

When they got away from the ride, seating themselves on a nearby bench, Quatre turned to face a pink faced Relena.

"I…am _never_…going to trust you…again," He gasped. "That was not safe! For goodness sakes! That was worse then spinning out of control in a Gundam! At least I know I won't fall out!" Relena smiled at him.

"I thought it was rather fun. Didn't you?"

Quatre gaped at her. He worked his mouth, trying to talk, but couldn't find the right words. He closed it, stared at her, then shook his head in frustration.

"Yes, but that isn't the point! Are they safe?"

"You rode on it."

He only stared at her, then shook his head in surrender.

"Oh, never mind."

"Come on Quatre." Trowa murmured, "You won't be getting a straight answer out of this princess."

"Hold it!" Relena cried out, "We still have a lot of tickets. I have at least one more ride I want us to go on. Follow me." She took off without giving them a chance to answer, Dorothy close behind, and Quatre was left looking after her suspiciously. He didn't like the sneaky feeling he got from her, a sensation that didn't suit her. It was disturbing.

Of course, Quatre didn't really _know_ Relena in the way that would allow him knowledge of her true personality. All he really knew of her was what he learned during the war and after it, mostly during publicity stunts and business expense and other formal interventions. He never really had a chance to get to know her personally.

Just as he never got the chance to know the others 'personally' either.

Like Dorothy.

Quatre felt a pair of hands on his back and he was shoved forward by Trowa. Sighing in exasperation the two young men took of after the two giggling girls before them.

**111break111**

Quatre stood rooted to the ground, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed together in determination. His arms were crossed and his focus was set on one Relena Peacecraft Dorlian who, in turn, was returning his current glare, as well as the glare of the tall blonde beside him (whose glare was far more menacing right now), with an expression of mixed exasperation and determination of her own.

"Come, on!" She said in the same calm, strong voice that held the attention of half the world when she made her addresses. "A date is a date. This is only part of it."

"I am not getting on that ride." Quatre replied firmly.

"I can't believe your doing this Relena!" Dorothy hissed.

"Oh, give me a break!" The exasperation had finally won out and she was tired of playing the diplomat. She didn't care anymore; it was time for the spoiled rich girl routine. "Stop complaining and just get in the boat! It won't last that long and Trowa and I will be right behind you!" Trowa looked at Relena quickly, his eyes wide, but she paid him no mind. "It's a charming and relaxing ride, the most relaxing one in the park! I just figured you'd want a break from all the thrills right about now so I planned things this way! It's just a ride, okay? Nothing is going to happen, I promise!"

Quatre set his jaw to the side, thinking. This would leave him alone with Dorothy, something he had always feared. He didn't know what would happen if they were alone together, what she would do. What _he_ would do.

And yet…the scariest thing of all…he just may _want_ to be alone with her. With the woman that haunts his thoughts when he isn't careful, the woman that dances into view when he's busy or secretly whispers in his ear the words she had spoken to him that night on Christmas.

Quatre glanced at Dorothy. She was still glaring at Relena, a feeling of deep hurt and betrayal interwoven with the same longing desire he felt before, the same sadness that floated in earlier.

_Why is she so sad?_

"Relena." Dorothy murmured, the glare still fixated on the young woman. "Why are you doing this?"

Relena's eyes flickered over to Dorothy for a moment, then to Quatre. She turned to look at Dorothy, then, and smiled.

"Well, I know you won't believe if I told you I was bored, so I'll just tell you the truth. It's for your own good."

Dorothy's glared hardened and she looked away furiously with her arms crossed. The feeling of betrayal getting stronger.

"Look. None of you are going home until you go on that ride."

"And what's stopping us?" Quatre demanded

"Easy." Relena smirked, her hand lifting to reveal a set of shimmering metal. "I got your keys."

"What?" Quatre frantically searched his pockets, but his keys were nowhere to be found.

"You didn't notice when they fell out of your pocket. I decided to hold onto them just in case you lost them again."

"You can't do that!"

"I can and I will." Relena replied, "Now get on that ride."

"Your nuts."

"No, I'm tired. I need to get back to Hiiro, but I need to finish this night out first. I promise you can go home after this, but only _after_ this."

Dorothy looked back over to Relena, ready to argue, but Quatre didn't want to prolong the night any further. Relena wasn't about to give in; he knew that for a fact. And he also knew that when she was this determined she was going to get her way.

"Fine. But the night ends after this."

"Absolutely." Relena agreed.

"This is going to be humiliating." Dorothy murmured as she turned around to face the large artificial stream of water before her. She walked over to the ticket gate and handed two of her tickets over then looked over her shoulder at Quatre.

"Are you coming or not? I want to get this over as quickly as possible. The sooner this ends, the sooner we can forget it ever happened."

Quatre nodded, confused, and walked over, handing the third ticket over to the equally confused gateman. Quatre seemed to be getting mixed signals here. Did she, or did she not, want to be with him? Or was it the fact that she was about to step into the back of a boat that was shaped like a cloud with a ring of hearts around it? Either way, when she sat down, it was with a huff as she crossed her arms irritably.

Quatre sat down next to her and got the sudden impression, as the boat started off, of satisfaction. He glanced over his shoulder to see Relena standing next to the gateman, a big smile on her face, and realized he'd been duped. He felt a brief surge of anger rush over him, but it disappeared just as quickly as it flared and he flopped against the boat with a huff/sigh of his own, running a hand through his hair.

**111break111**

"I refuse to get in that boat with you."

"Good."

Trowa glanced at Relena with a raised eyebrow, his suspicions more then a little confirmed. "You wanted them alone?"

"Of course."

"That wasn't part of the deal." Trowa responded, "Is that wise?"

Relena turned to look at Trowa and saw the concern reflected in his eyes, the only way to ever tell how he was feeling. She found it unnerving to be around a person who showed so little emotion, other then Hiiro of course, but knew that for Trowa showing even a hint of emotion was an improvement.

"You promised me we wouldn't get separated."

"No, Trowa, I promised that I knew what I was doing and that the entire night was mapped out. I told you not to worry and to trust me."

Trowa only stared at Relena with those green penetrating eyes of his, the concern in the emerald orbs intensifying. Relena could only guess at what was running through his mind and she figured it wasn't anything pretty. After all, he still remembered Dorothy as the woman that had run Quatre through with a sword. He didn't know the truth, that Dorothy had strong feelings for Quatre that had been growing inside her for a little over a year now. That inside she was broken confused, unable to discern truth from lies within her own heart. That everything she believed in was shattered and her icy walls were gone, replaced, instead, by an image of heaven. He didn't know that Dorothy didn't really know how to approach him about these feelings. And this entire night was her plan to help the two of them out. After all, it was Trowa who had come to her for help with Quatre, worried that Quatre was pursuing the wrong course. Relena wondered, understandably, if Trowa was only thinking that way because Dorothy was a woman.

"Trowa, don't worry. Quatre is 17 years old, not to mention an ex-gundam pilot. Heck! He's a member of the most elite task force in the world! A task force that you are also a member of, if I remember correctly. Now please, trust Quatre and trust me. Everything is going to be just fine. Dorothy would never hurt him, I promise."

"She appears to be stable." Trowa responded, a hint of exasperation falling off in a whisper.

"More stable then you." Relena murmured. Trowa raised an eyebrow to which she only smiled and tapped his for head. "You're getting better at it, from what I hear."

"How long, exactly, and how often did you and Catherine meet together when the circus was here last month?"

"Long enough to get all the information I needed." Relena replied, "And often enough to gain a new friend."

Trowa said nothing.

"Right then!" Relena stated, grabbing Trowa's arm. "Lets go on some more rides!"

**111break111**

_Now what?_ Quatre thought as he stared up at the night sky. This wasn't going to be easy, he didn't have the slightest idea what to do. Or what to say. This evening was a total rut. Relena had duped him-.

As the boat slowly made it's way into the tunnel Quatre found a foothold of conversation.

"Dorothy." Quatre sat up straight and turned to look at her, concentrating on keeping his empathy from straying into her feelings. If he was going to talk seriously with her, about something this important, he wasn't about to cheat. "May I ask you something?"

"You just did." She replied flatly. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and he caught a flicker of fondness, appearing and disappearing before the normal eye could catch it. "What?"

_Perhaps she really _does_ like me. But…is that really a good thing?_

"What were you told about tonight? What did Relena say to you?"

"Nothing. At least nothing about what she had planned anyway. Only that tonight would end with my answers. Why do ask?"

"You seemed upset when you realized what was going on."

"As did you."

Quatre felt his cheeks brighten slightly. She was right, he had been upset. Still was too. He didn't like being duped, especially by someone he thought was inept at it. He should really try not to misjudge Relena anymore, she could be _quite_ surprising.

"I don't suppose you know what time it is, do you?" Dorothy broke into his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, of course." Quatre glanced at his watch, "About 10:30."

"Carnival ends at 2:00."

Quatre stared at her. His conversational foothold didn't seem to be holding anymore. It was ridiculous, really, that he was so unsure about things. It shouldn't be so complicated; he needed to work out his own emotions before he tried to think about someone else's.

The ride went on, but Quatre didn't pay any attention to it. He was to busy thinking, to busy to realize the woman next to him had dozed off until she collapsed onto his shoulder. Startled, he looked down at her, seeing the almost angelic face dozing peacefully. She looked so peaceful when asleep, but that was just a façade.

He nudged her awake when really he wanted to stay this way. Seeing her so peaceful was relaxing to him and he would have preferred to touch her soft skin gently then wake her, but the ride was ending. They got off the ride and Quatre looked around, irritated that nothing had been accomplished and angry with Relena.

"Where did that snake in the grass drag Trowa off to anyway?" Dorothy asked with a huff.

"Probably more rides. We'd best go look for them."

"I agree whole heartedly. I must speak with _friend_ rather privately about something."

Quatre smiled as they walked but stopped when his stomach gave a soft rumble of dismay. He looked around and spotted a snack machine.

"Want something to eat?" he asked

"Do even know what they serve at these things?"

"Same thing they serve at the circus." Quatre replied, "I'm not ignorant of middle class pleasures you know."

"Very well then. Yes, I would love something to eat."

Quatre pulled out his wallet and checked the contents. Content he had something smaller then a hundred or a fifty he walked over to the snack shack with Dorothy and looked at the menu.

"Anything specific?"

"Cherry cotton candy."

"Alright. I will take a corndog and a bottle of water."

The tender nodded and handed them their snacks as Quatre set a twenty on the table, a little embarrassed he had nothing smaller. The tender didn't seem to notice, however, as he gave Quatre his change and the pair headed off into the thick of the carnival again.

"It appears the boat ride took us to the opposite side of the park Quatre." Dorothy murmured as she noticed how far away the rides were. "We're in the game section."

"Well, I think this was also part of Relena's plan tonight." Quatre replied with a huff. "Separate from us and let us fend for ourselves."

"Is that so bad?"

Her question caught Quatre off guard and he quickly sent a tendril of his empathy out. As he feared she had that predatory feeling and Quatre mentally kicked himself for relaxing.

"It depends, actually." Quatre replied tactfully, "On how things go."

"I see."

_It is me, or does she seem icy all of a sudden?_

They walked in silence for a moment, the sounds of the carnival filling their ears. They passed by game after game and finally Dorothy spoke, the ice gone.

"Care for a game or two?" She asked passively. "We seem to be in the thick of the games now, and I doubt we'll find Relena until the carnival closes anyway.

Quatre looked around, taking note of what he saw. They all looked fairly simple enough, nothing hard. It was all similar to target practice, really, among other things. Tests of stamina, strength….

"I suppose one or two wouldn't hurt anything." Quatre replied, "And we still have a few tickets left."

Quatre, having forgotten he had a tendril of his empathy focused on Dorothy, felt a sudden rush of giddy excitement. He turned a quizzical eye to his companion, but she stood as calm and collected as ever, the girlish feeling being bottled for her own image.

"Let's do this one." Quatre said as he walked over to the nearest target practice game. A shooting gallery, to be precise. Quatre noticed a row of mobile dolls moving on a belt from one side of the booth to the other.

"No fair, you'll be good at this!" Dorothy stated.

"It's not a contest, just a game." Quatre replied as he handed two tickets to the teller.

"Dolls are easy, they get you two points!" The teller stated, "Then you move up to federation MS and OZ MS. Three points each. But it's the gundums that give ya the gold. If ya can manage to shoot all of them down, even if ya didn't hit a single of the others you get a prize. Points give prizes; see the point's board at the side. Here is your weapon."

"Uh…yeah." Quatre murmured as he grabbed the toy rifle. He examined it for a moment, noted the shoddy workmanship, and noticed it used beebies. _This may be harder then I thought._

He aimed the rifle at the dolls moving around and pressed the trigger. He managed to hit six of them, but missed three. The gun seemed to be rigged and it took him those three misses to realize the problem. Grinning he aimed at the MS that were now moving along and shot each of them down in turn, then turned his attention to the Gundums as they strolled along. It was a funny thing to be shooting them down with a little pee shooter when he was so used to doing this with an MS of his own, but now that he had the hang of it he found it quite easy. When he was done he had only missed a total of five targets. The dolls in the first round and two of the OZ MS, but other then that he had one of the highest scores and received a white giant kitty cat with pink highlights. A red bow with a silver bell was rapped around its neck, the boy having been tied in the back. He looked at it for a moment rather distastefully and glanced at the teller who was now serving the next customer. Had he given Quatre the prize expecting him to give it to Dorothy? That was how things usually went, after all.

Not that he _wanted_ to keep a stuffed kitty anyway.

"You want this Dorothy?" He asked in an offhanded manner, keeping his link with her open.

"Me?"

He felt confusion from her; shock. A slight flighty sensation crept in and a hint of blushing. When he glanced at her, however, there was no pink in her cheeks, though she was looking at him in surprise.

"Yes, you. I don't need it, nor do I want it. I would, however, _like_ to give it to you." He had sensed a wash of disappointment creep in when he began, but with his last statement he felt a leap of spirits. It made him smile outwardly and he handed her the 'gift'. Her expression softened and she smiled in turn, taking the cat from him and holding it.

"Thank you, Quatre. I appreciate that thought but _I_ get to pick the next game."

"Why do I not like the thought of that?" the young man asked as he sensed a playfulness intermingle with her usual predatory nature.

"Because it won't be target practice, that's why." And before Quatre could say yay or nay she grabbed his wrist and pulled him along the rows and rows of booths until she spotted one she liked. At first, Quatre thought it was the strongman's test and he rolled his eyes, but she diverted her path slightly and he found himself standing in front of a booth filled with jars upon jars of water, each one filled with little odd ball items in each one. The jars were stacked in a sort of pyramid, three high, and from what he could see of it you had to try and get a bunch of ping-pong balls into the jars. Namely the center.

"Umm…this is target practice."

"Not quite Quatre. It's a much more specific game. No guns and a touch harder. See if you can get the balls inside the jars that are only halfway uncovered by the jars on top of them. Let's see how good you really are."

"Fine, though somehow I don't think the game was designed to go after those particular jars. How much is it?"

"Four tickets."

"I have plenty."

"You'll need every one of them."

"We'll see."

"Yes, we will, won't we?"

Quatre handed the man four tickets and he received seven balls. He tossed the first one, aiming for the third jar in the second row of the second pile to get a feel for the game but it bounced off the rim of the jar, bounced off four other rims and landed on the first flat. Dorothy laughed hard. Quatre scowled and tossed the next ball and the next and the next. By the time he threw the seventh ball he had missed every target he aimed for except the fifth one, which had been the fifth jar away from him in the fourth row of the top flat. Dorothy couldn't stop laughing.

"Hah, ha. I still have more tickets." He paid again and again until he had a pile of oddball prizes sitting next to him on the counter ranging from costume jewelry and plastic doodads to small stuffies and little action figures that came from the third flat. By this time Quatre was rather irritated, but mostly because Dorothy was having way too much fun with this. He was now on his last ball of the fifth set of seven. He had already promised himself this was the last time he was paying for a round and that he _had_ to make it in the center jar. Otherwise he would _never_ live it down.

Aiming carefully he tossed the ball and watched as it bounced off the rim of the center jar, bounced around two other jars, and land, smack dab in the center jar, a soft splish and a drop of water rewarding him with satisfaction.

Congratulations sir." The teller replied with a big fat smile on his face. "Nice try, nice try. You finally made it in. And just because you worked so hard I'm gong to let _you_ pick out what you want to give the little lady."

Quatre looked at Dorothy quickly as the man turned around to take the little prizes out of the jars and set them on the table with the others, replacing the small plastic toys with others. She was smiling at him, quite humored.

"I'm satisfied with my kitten, Kitten." Quatre wasn't sure weather she was mocking him or laying with him. Probably both. She was certainly enjoying herself. "You keep the next one."

_Like I want to?_

A little disturbed, and strangely attracted, he turned back to the teller who had just finished replacing the last doodad and was now looking at him.

"So, what'll it be buddy?"

"Uh…." Quatre looked at the row of prizes for the center jar. They were medium sized stuffies and arranged in a small line. There weren't all that many of them so it wasn't that hard to pick, if he had been actually interested in getting something of course. Of the prizes, which consisted of a solid red bear, a solid pink one, a big red and pink patchwork dog, and a white cat with black on its right eye and left ear along with splotches here and there. The front leg looked like it had stepped in a can of paint and it wore a blue bow around its neck, quite similar to the bow on Dorothy's kitten.

"I'll take the cat." He stated, finding it the least feminine of the bunch. If he had to take a prize, one that Dorothy wasn't going to keep, he may as well get something that didn't look gay. He could always chuck it out later. Maybe give it to Iria or something.

"Good choice buddy. Here ya are!"

"Thanks Quatre murmured as he accepted the bear. The man put Quatre's other prizes in a bag as Quatre looked at the cat (though Quatre absently made a grab for the last prize he had won, not wanting to loose it among the many. He had, after all, spent so much time trying to get it). He had to admit it _was_ kind of cute. About three times as small as Dorothy's but that suited him just fine. He didn't need a giant stuffie to lug around for the entire night.

"It's a nice memento of tonight." Dorothy replied as she accepted the bag for Quatre and they began to walk off. "And incredibly cute too."

Quatre didn't think she was talking about the cat.

"So, what do we have here?"

Quatre glanced at her and saw that she had her cat stuck under her arm, which was a rather big feat considering it's size, and was now digging into the bag. Unsure why he did it Quatre took that cat from her so she could dig better watched as she rummaged through the plastic jewelry with a clever grin. She was thoroughly enjoying herself and Quatre was having fun watching her. As she pulled something out that she thought was cute she would put it on and continue digging. She even looked at the small toys that were won on the third flat but not he center jar. Only about four or five, but she still thought they were cute.

Quatre shifted the large kitty in his arms and stuffed his white and black one in his coat pocket so he could look at the tiny little prize he had worked so hard to get. It was a cheap plastic gold ring with a little sequin in the center to resemble a diamond. On it her side of the diamond were two green tinted leaves, a pink sequin n one and an aquamarine one on the other. The leaves were designed to make it look as if the leaves were the ends of the ring connecting together with the diamond. It was very pretty, but wrong for the time of year. It looked more like a spring time prize, probably left over from the previous year. Unless the teller didn't really think of that sort of thing and just stuffed it in there.

As they walked Quatre stuffed the ring in his pocket and looked around the booths. He was going to pick a game for Dorothy to play this time, and she was going to play it. Fair was fair after all. And when he spotted a particular game he grinned and nudged Dorothy.

"Your turn."

"Excuse me?"

"Your turn to play one. And I got the perfect one."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really."

He took her by the elbow and directed her to a game, grinning all the while and set her in front of a booth with a paint gun connected by a piece of twain. The object of the game: to shoot the center of the heart shaped target ten feet away.

"Let's see how good your aim _really_ is duchess."

Dorothy's face lit up brilliantly as she realized Quatre was finally starting to relax and enjoy himself. And he decided the name 'duchess' was perfect for her, just as she had decided to call him…yeah.

"You sure about this?" she asked softly

"Defiantly."

"Okay then. Let's get started."

Quatre grinned and paid the two tickets to play as Dorothy grabbed the gun. She hiked it to her shoulder, aimed, and fired. The shot hit off target. She looked up and blinked in surprise as Quatre chuckled. He had figured this gun was just as rigged as the other one. And Dorothy was nowhere near the level he was in identifying such things and compensating for the lag.

Dorothy lowered the gun and looked at Quatre, her eyes narrow. "I should have found this game for _you_ Mr. Winner." Going back to the game she shot two more times, but each time she still didn't get close to the center. On the sixth and final shot she managed to hit on the third inner line and looked up at the grinning Quatre. "Care to see if you can do better?"

"Not really."

"I insist."

"I already played two, this is your turn." Quatre replied

"Being a baby about it?"

"Baby!" Quatre cried indignantly. He dug two tickets out of his pocket and slapped them on the table. The teller reloaded the gun for Quatre who took it, aimed, and fired the gun. It hit off mark of where he sighted and he adjust his angle again. It still hit off mark and grinned, catching the flaw in the gun.

And then he froze. He slowly put the gun down and turned to face Dorothy who was grinning that little grin of hers, her arms crossed in that smug manner that she had.

"You sly, sly girl." Quatre commented, "You tricked me."

"Didn't." She replied

Quatre turned back to the target, lined up the sight, and shot a perfect bull's-eye. He set the gun down and turned to look back at Dorothy, a grin on his face. "I think that settles that."

"How did you-?"

"After the second shot I got a hang of the alignment. The games are al rigged. You just need to know how to identify the problem and readjust your performance to compensate."

"You have three more shot sir." The teller stated, clearly not happy with the way Quatre was talking.

Quatre turned around shot the center target twice more, missing the second shot but getting the first and third. The second was close enough to the center, however, to still receive a prize, if only a small one. So had his second get-the-feeling-right shot. Dorothy was informed she also got to pick two prizes out of all her six shots.

Quatre chose bright crimson bear with black highlights a pink 'Kiss Me' heart in it's grasp, a pink and white patchwork dog quite similar to the one he passed up earlier (the patch over it's eye was shaped like a heart), and a two foot tall Sandrock replica (plastic of course) that caught his eye for his three Bulls-eye shots. For his two smaller prizes he chose smaller versions of Shenlong and Heavyarms, the only two they had. Apparently all the Deathsythe and Wing Zero's had been picked up over the past three weeks and they hadn't restocked yet. Quatre was quite humored by the pop0ularity of some versus that of others, but it didn't bother him. He was, though, quite flustered when he called them by name on accident and the teller wasn't exactly sure what he was referring to. The official names of the gundums had never really been public knowledge, after all.

When Quatre glanced at Dorothy he noticed she had chosen a little Talgeese figure for herself as well as a Sandrock figure that she swiftly stuffed in her pocket, not realizing Quatre had already spotted it.

"Now then, duchess." Quatre grinned, "Do we continue to play games? Or do we go drop these things off at the car?"

Dorothy seemed to contemplate the matter for a moment, staring at their armload of carnival prizes. She picked her own kitten up with a grin and replied, "I think the car would be a god idea. "I'm going to have to help you carry some of those."

Quatre looked at the pile of prizes he had, then looked at Dorothy. She was probably right about that….

He began picking up his prizes but the sound of giggling stopped him. He looked up at Dorothy, his arms loaded, and saw that she was trying, in vain, to hide her giggles.

"What's so funny?"

"You look simply adorable holding all those toys like that!" She replied, "Almost like an overgrown child!"

Quatre, startled by her comment, looked down at himself, then at her again, slight irritation building.

"Oh, thank you so much!" He growled, "Like I don't get enough of that from everyone else around me, now I'm getting it from you!

"Oh, Quatre, don't be so touchy!" She giggled

"You'd be mad too if it was you they always talked whispered about, being to young to carry on in my fathers stead. The only thing they worry about regarding you is weather or not your going to find someway to steal their companies. Your reputation is cold, mine is too young."

"Well." Dorothy murmured, "I see. I apologize, I didn't realize. People usually try to keep me out of the loop. As you said, they fear me. I won't joke like that again, alright?"

"No, it's okay. You did nothing wrong, I should not have gotten irritated at such a simple joke. I'm sorry."

"Must you apologize for everything?" Dorothy asked, amazed. "Its almost as if you find every little thing your fault!"

"Huh? No! I don't-."

"Yes. You do. It seems to be a bit of a nasty habit."

"Really?"

"Yes. You never noticed it before?"

"No really…."

"Oh, never mind about it. It isn't that important. Let's go, I'll gab a few of those for you." Dorothy bent over and picked up a few of Quatre's prizes and the two of them began walking again. They had to stop and ask directions though, they had gotten a tad lost inside the park. As they headed on their way again Quatre got the distinct impression they were being followed. He sent out a feeler, just in case he wasn't being paranoid, and waited for results. When nothing happened he began to relax again and he looked up into the night sky. It was clear for February, and the stars, what you could see of them, twinkled dimly against the glare of the carnival lights. He was about to comment to Dorothy about how he missed looking at the stars more clearly when he felt the sudden presence of danger looming in the air. He froze on the spot and looked around, trying to determine where the source was coming from. When Dorothy realized he had stopped walking she back tracked a little and looked at him curiously.

"Quatre? What s it?"

"Huh?" Quatre looked at her, startled by her sudden intrusion. "Oh. Nothing. It's nothing; I just thought I heard someone call my name. Just my imagination." He smiled reassuringly, but he had the feeling she wasn't buying it. In fact, he knew she wasn't buying it. But she nodded her head nonetheless and began walking again, checking to make sure he was following. Checking over his shoulder once more, just in case, he hurried up to Dorothy and nudged her forward, not to hurriedly.

"C'Mon, I think we should hurry up and find Trowa and Relena."

"Huh? Why?"

"I think it best we leave now."

Quatre felt a sudden sadness set over the area and he cursed himself a little. Dorothy was getting the wrong idea, but he didn't have time to worry about that right now. Something was wrong; something was directed towards the two of them. He wasn't sure if Trowa and Relena were in the same dilemma, unaware.

They finally reached the parking lot and Quatre quickly unlocked the trunk, stuffing the prizes inside and allowing Dorothy to do the same. When done he began to walk back towards the rides and lights, but the ominous feeling came back in full and he whipped his head around, clearly catching the direction now that they were away from all the people. He managed to catch sight of a dark figure hidden between the cars, a slight glint shining off what was unmistakably a gun. His adrenaline racing, Quatre quickly turned around and lunged at Dorothy, knocking her to the ground just as a bullet passed by and embedded itself in the car. Dorothy, shocked, looked up at the bullet from where she now lay and gasped.

"What in the high heavens was that about?"

"I don't know." Quatre replied just as another bullet shot out at them.


	3. The End?

Keemew2: Chapter three!

**111break111**

Blind Valentine

Ch.3-The End?

General…

Rated PG-13

**111break111**

Relena watched Trowa with more then just a little amusement as he spent the last ten minutes (well, okay. One minute) head first in the trash bin, ejecting snacks he had managed to snag during Relena's carnival rampage from his recently weakened stomach.

"Dare I ask if you are all right Trowa?" the young noble woman asked softly, trying not to allow her amusement to show through.

The sound of retching followed.

Relena pinched a piece of cotton candy off her cone and placed it in her mouth, allowing the sugar to melt on her tongue before she continued, then licked the residue from her digits.

"I find it rather strange, really" She murmured "I thought, as a gundums pilot, your constitution would be stronger then this."

This triggered a response from Trowa as he slowly removed his head from the bin and forced a glare. One, I might add, that didn't faze her as most glares seem to fail to do.

"Heavyarms never spun out of control in a never ending cycle of chaos either." Trowa muttered, "And even if it did I would not have ridden on six times in a row, or allow someone to talk me into it."

Relena smiled sweetly and handed Trowa a drink she had grabbed while he threw up, one he took up greedily and drank with vigor.

"Thanks." He murmured dully.

"Your welcome. You don't have to stay you know." Trowa gave her a look of surprise, "I can handle my brother," She assured him, "and Hiiro's harmless." Trowa continued to stare at her, "Look, I'm sure they won't get mad at you if you leave me here. I've been working with Hiiro, he's better now. He doesn't draw his gun as quickly anymore, he thinks first." Relena stared into the silent, unblinking green eye of the stoic brunette. "Okay, now you're starting to freak me out Trowa."

"Sorry." He mumbled, turning away. "So, now what? Can we go look for Quat-?" the word barley left his lips before it caught on his tongue. HE stared into the milling crowd, startled, as he caught the fleeting image of a familiar blond. The sudden glimpse was enough to send memories he once thought buried deep within soaring high through the air.

_22words of memory22_

_Can't you look sad? You killed the men who used to be your comrades._

_And you're going to keep on acting like this, killing your own heart, aren't you?_

_How long do you plan to were that mask that never cries?_

_Your more free than I ever will be._

_Good bye, No Name._

_33end33_

Trowa started to walk toward the blonde, or at least where she _had_ been.

"Trowa?"

Trowa looked over his shoulder to see Relena staring at him in confusion. EH didn't know what to do, he couldn't let the blond get away but….

"I think I…I will be right back Relena, don't move." And he was off before Relena could think twice about what he had said.

"Trowa, wait!"

She watched, bewildered, as he rushed off through the crowd, losing sight of him almost immediately. She stared in confusion only a moment longer before she huffed and crossed her arms in irritation.

"Stay here?" she repeated, "And do what? Wait for someone to attack me?" She turned around with a frown and looked at the ride behind her and, as she stared, her frown began to turn into a smile. "Well, I guess I could go on you one more time." She said to the ride she had ridden five times already.

**111break111**

Trowa ran, fast as he could through the milling crowd, looking left, right, ahead and behind. He looked all over, trying to find the blond. He pushed, prodded; thrust himself through the crowd with a growing urgency he wasn't used to feeling.

_It has to be her!_ Trowa thought distractedly, keeping his eyes pinned on the crowd. _It has to be!_ He could have sworn it was her it looked just like her from the brief glimpse he had gotten.

_Middi._

It had to be her. Who else could have that same Marigold blonde hair?

Yes, yes. He only had a glimpse of the face, but it had to be her. Why else would he pick her out of a crowd like that? Only his angel of death could have given him such an impression, he had to find her!

_There!_

He saw her. Trowa stopped short, barely registering as someone bumped into him. He stood there, numb.

_How long do you plan to were that mask that never cries?_

Trowa started forward. She wasn't moving anymore; she had stopped at a line, waiting for a ride.

_You're more free then I ever will be._

Trowa was confused. He wanted to go over to her, to talk to her. To confirm that it really _was_ her! But the closer he got the more hesitation he felt. The more he wanted to turn around, pretend he'd never seen her.

_Goodbye, No Name._

"No." Trowa whispered. "No, not this time." He clenched his hand into a fist and walked, quickly, up to the woman standing in line and placed a hand on her shoulder, intent on getting her attention. He watched, as if in slow motion, as her head slowly turned, looking upwards, towards Trowa, with wide, startled eyes.

And the most beautiful eyes he ever saw looked straight through him, boring into his soul. Swirling within a mist of silvery blue lay wisps of delicate colors that drew him deeper into their depths. Colors that strengthened and weakened as the swirling danced gracefully within the confines of her iris. He couldn't help but notice as greens merged with gold's, pinks danced with purples, an aurora of color lying right before him!

And yet…somewhere in the back of his mind Trowa recognized the fact that these were not the eyes he was looking for.

The mist suddenly vanished to be replaced with a bright, twinkling blue that seemed to laugh merrily with amusement, a soft giggle accompanying the change of eye color.

Trowa was released from the mesmerizing eyes once they changed and he found himself staring at a young woman that not only resembled the woman he had mistook her for, but actually looked as if she could be a twin sister, if not all together identical. The strange resemblance was uncanny to Trowa and he felt rather innerved that anyone else could look so much like the woman he had thought was here.

_But then again, she may not even be still alive._

"Forgive me." Trowa stated evenly. "I mistook you for another."

"S'Okay." She replied with a smile, "I don't mind. Names Petunia. Petunia Roseinbloom. You?"

"Trowa." He stated, then as an after thought, "Barton."

Trowa began to turn, but the sound of her exited chatter stopped him.

"No, way! Trowa Barton? _The_ Trowa Barton? Friend and comrade of Duo Maxwell?"

Trowa raised an eyebrow.

"No way! I knew you looked familiar! Well, by your description really, but still! Oh, man, Duo talks about you often! I think you are soo cool! Well, he doesn't think so; actually he thinks you're a real stick in the mud sometimes! But the way he talks about you and your relation to Mr. Winner and the circus! Oh, wow! I've always wanted to meet you! All of you! He promised me he would introduce me at some point, ya know, but personally I think he purposefully forgot all about the promise. Man, you can never trust a thing that guy says sometimes!"

Trowa stared, amazed, as she jabbered on and on about things Trowa knew absolutely nothing about. She reminded him, somewhat, of Duo, but at the same time was far worse then he could ever dream to be. The thing about it, though, was he didn't want to tape her mouth shut like he usually wanted to do with Duo. He found himself staring at her, transfixed just by her voice. A very pretty voice, indeed. A soft alto that had a tendency to get loud, but he didn't seem to mind much.

_Relena._

Trowa's mind abruptly turned to his purpose of the evening and he looked back the way he had come. He never should have left her alone, anything could have happened. He was being far too careless tonight.

"I have to go." Trowa was quite blunt in the matter, cutting her off mid-sentence. HE turned away from her and started for Relena.

"Huh. Duo was right." She stated, her arms crossed, as she watched Trowa blend into the crowd. "You _are_ pretty rude." She chewed the inside of her cheek, briefly, before coming to a conclusion. "Fine. I'll be rude too." She rushed into the crowd, her eyes searching where she had seen him go, and spotted him fairly quickly as he hurried back to his evening's charge. She grinned mischievously as she began to stealth walk through the crowd, being sure she kept herself inconspicuous, but was still able to follow the tall brunette easily. She was amused to note that he didn't even notice her, quite enjoying herself.

And then he stopped.

He seemed puzzled and she watched as he looked around himself, double-checking the rides name. He seemed rather agitated, but not visibly so, really. HE scanned the crowd for a moment then looked upwards with a start as someone shouted his name. He appeared to let out a baited breath then leaned against the rail, satisfied he had found who he was looking for. Curious, Petunia sauntered over to him, the mischievous feel still held within.

"She your girlfriend?" she asked with that same grin. For a minute he appeared to be frozen. He didn't move, didn't even turn to look at her. Then, slowly, he turned his head to acknowledge her presence, just as Petunia stared upwards to get a better look at the woman on the ride. When she realized whom it was she almost squealed with excitement.

"NO WAY!" She cried, "That's-" But Trowa's hand was over her mouth before she could ever finish the sentence, turning her and thrusting her against his chest.

Trowa bent his head down to her ear, his warm breath making her skin prickle as he whispered. "Who?"

As he removed his hand for her to speak she answered just as quietly. "So it _is_ her. What is the lady of the ministry doing _here_ of all places? I'm guessing, by obvious choice, of course, that it is supposed to be a secret she's here?" When Trowa didn't answer her she turned around to see him looking at her, a mask of indifference on his face. She grunted. "Duo said you might do that whenever I talked to you. Whenever _anybody_ talks to you."

"Duo has told you a lot?" She wasn't sure if it was a question or not.

"Yeah." She said cautiously, "I know about your war experience if that's what you mean. And no I didn't hear that from Duo. I heard that from my dad. You might have heard of him, you being a gundam pilot and all, his name is Doctor G." She gave him an evil little grin as she said that last thing. Trowa just continued to stare, as if he were in an interrogation. And then he surprised her.

"What?"

"Yeah." She replied, hiding her surprise at his knew interest. "He's my old man. Don't get the wrong idea or anything, though. I'm nothing like him. I'm a test tube baby he was using as an experiment. Well, I gotta go. I have someone looking for me. Bye!"

Petunia turned sharply on her heel, dashing off before Trowa finished processing what she had said. He was a little confused; this woman knew things about him that _no_ one should know. And she got her information from both Duo and Dr. G. Neither idea was a good one, both of them should know never to tell anything about any of them.

Just how much did Duo and that old man let slip to the girl? Was it worth his time to worry about it, or should he trust in Duo's integrity for keeping secrets? He was, after all, a fellow gundam pilot. He'd been through just as much during the war, and in his past, as everyone else.

But that wasn't the only thing lingering in Trowa's mind, however. Her eyes seemed to keep him entranced even though she was no longer near him. Eyes that seemed burned into his memory. Eyes of a silvery blue mist that seemed to solidify into a bright blue color that seemed to reflect her merriment. They were strange eyes, not quite human. She had mentioned she was a test tube baby but so was Quatre and his sisters. So that can't have anything to do with it.

Trowa was still pondering the girl when Relena's ride stopped for a second time. She had gotten back on it without ever getting off and finally decided she had enough of the particular whirl-about-ride. When she reached the trouble young man she noticed he was deep in thought

"Trowa?"

the tall brunette looked down at the shorter young woman, acknowledging her presence.

"IS something wrong?"

"No, nothing." Trowa replied a little distantly, "Let's find Quatre."

"All right, but it may take a while considering we left them over an hour ago." She glanced at her companion. He was staring ahead of him, keeping an eye out, but she was pretty sure he was still listening. "We may want to head back to the boat ride and retrace our steps from there, don't you think?"

Nothing.

"Trowa, please stop doing that."

"Huh?" Trowa raised an eyebrow, slightly confused.

"Nothing." Relena replied irritably,

"Oh, sorry."

They made their way to the boat ride and walked the expanse until they reached the end. Once there Relena looked around, not quite sure where to start next.

"Hmm…." She glanced Trowa out of the corner of her eye and smiled slightly. "We could always split up. You know, cover more ground?"

"No."

"Fine then. We head towards the games. Neither one of us saw them as we walked through the rides, so that is essentially the logical choice."

Without replying Trowa headed off in the direction of the games, holding Relena by the arm so as to keep her with him. Relena lurched forward with the sudden movement and stumbled to keep up at first.

"Trowa, I am not going to run away."

"So?"

Incredulous Relena hurried her steps in order to keep up with the pilot and they left the rides behind them, entering the games. They didn't really see any sign of either Quatre or Dorothy as they walked and Relena found her thoughts wandering, thinking about the entire night thus far.

"Trowa, may I ask you a question with out you getting offended?"

"Nothing you say would offend me." Trowa replied without looking back at her.

"I don't really know about that."

"Ask."

"What has brought about the changes in you?"

"Excuse me?" Trowa stopped and turned to look at Relena, obviously confused.

"Well, during the war you were so cold and detached." Relena continued, "You were different. You hardly ever spoke. You've changed since then. You still don't speak a lot, but more then before. And you're not cold anymore. You're still a little detached, however. That hasn't changed, but you seem to have more emotion. Or something of the like."

"No offense." She added quickly.

Trowa cocked his head to the side slightly and examined Relena's form. He seemed to contemplate her request in order to formulate an answer. Finally he relaxed his stance slightly and closed his eyes, ready to answer her question. He looked up towards the night sky for a moment, then down at the young minister.

"The only thing I can say," Trowa began, "is that Quatre and my sister have helped me with that. I wouldn't have been able to tap into my repressed emotions with out either of them, especially Quatre. There is something about him, something special, that seems able to council others." Trowa looked deep into Relena's eyes, his forest green ones capturing Relena's in an intense gaze. "He would prefer, however, to keep that a secret until he's ready to tell people about that himself."

Relena, understanding reflecting in her own sapphire gaze, smiled softly as she nodded. She also had a suspicion that something else had been involved, that Quatre was special to Trowa for another reason, one that would be wrong of her to ask about.

Her heart skipped a beat as the sound of gunfire rang across the park, igniting frightened screams and shouts from around them.

"Gunfire in the parking lot!" Someone yelled, "People are trapped on the other side of the gate!"

"Gunfire!" Relena repeated, "What is going on?"

"I'm not sure." Trowa replied, his eyes narrowed, "But I believe you are safe. No one seems to be aiming for you, nor is anyone acting as though you would be in any danger. Stay here." He tossed his head back a little, catching her eye. "And I _mean_ stay too. Stay here until either Quatre or I return for you, do you understand?"

"Yes."

Trowa nodded and took off towards the fence separating the parking lot from the gate. Trowa had no idea what was going on, but he had a bad suspicion he did. And even if he was wrong, which he hoped he was, he still had to stop the gunman before someone was injured, or worse.

When he reached the fence Trowa grabbed a hold of the metal and swung his arm up, pulling his weight until he was able to swing his legs up and over. He landed gracefully on the cement and ducked behind a car, eyeing the expanse. In the distance, maybe a hundred or so feet down, he caught sight of sparks flying as bullets grazed off cars. Most notably he believed that was the area Quatre had parked his car.

_Quatre._

Trowa leapt up and began running through the cars until he had to start ducking behind them to miss the ricochet. He noticed several people hiding; scared they wouldn't survive the night, as he moved along. Finally he spotted the gunman, his bullets focused on one spot. Quatre's convertible.

**111break111**

Quatre cursed as he helped Dorothy tie a piece of his shirt around her arm, something that made the frightened woman giggle a little.

"It's a cute word." Dorothy explained when she found him staring at her.

Quatre had used, not a curse word, but a random grouping of letters that just slipped from his mouth in an attempt to keep _from_ swearing. It had come out as something like 'fizzlecrack'.

"Try not to move your arm to much." Quatre replied, "I don't want you to agitate the bullet. It's in deep and you may cause it to nick a vein."

Dorothy nodded and looked at her arm. She still wasn't sure how the bullet had gotten her but she had a thought that it was part of the ricochet. If that was the case it may only be a fragment from a bullet. Either way it was still painful.

Irritable and rather angry, Dorothy grabbed a hold of the handle of the car, lifting the latch and slowly opening the door.

"What are you doing?" Quatre asked as she reached into the barely open portal. "Dorothy? Your arm, don't agitate it too much."

"Quatre, shut up!" She hissed.

Startled, the young diplomat narrowed his eyes and watched as she managed to remove the item she had been after, her own bag of clothes. He wasn't sure if he should be exasperated or if there was some significance he was missing.

Dorothy hissed as she rubbed her arm painfully, a slight glare directed at Quatre. HE understood what she meant by it. She didn't want him to faun over her, something he would have done without the glare.

"I usually keep this in a holster beneath my skirt." She stated as she reached into the bag, "But I couldn't do that with these pants on." She pulled out a semi automatic handgun and handed it to Quatre. "Here, take this. I obviously can't use it, plus you're a better shot. I have a few extra rounds with me also."

"Dorothy…." Quatre murmured, staring at the gun uncomfortably.

"What is it Quatre?" she was confused, he could tell by her question. She recognized his hesitation but didn't revoke her offer of the gun. "I know you can't possibly say you don't use guns anymore. You're a member, no. You lead Preventer Five!"

"Dorothy-."

"No!" She shook her head "I don't care if you've reverted to a life of total pacifism! Someone is shooting at us with intent to kill and I don't want you hurt! Now take this gun and use it!"

Quatre looked around at the shooter, his heart clenching. Yes, he was a member of the task force. Maybe not the leader but he was a member of it. But even so, he still didn't' use a gun. He always managed to find a way around that. He always managed to find a kill free way to solve everything. He just didn't want any more blood on his hands but…he couldn't….

I don't want you hurt! 

Quatre took the gun from Dorothy and checked the load. He glanced briefly at Dorothy, then turned around the car's trunk again and shot off two bullets before sitting back down. The gunmen hesitated, as if stunned that his targets were firing back, before he fired off another set. Quatre shot out again then turned to Dorothy.

"I don't want to hurt anyone anymore." He said, "I hadn't meant to kill that man during Christmas and it's been bothering me ever since. But, despite all that, I don't want to see _you_ hurt either."

He kept his empathy to himself, turned away from her. He was satisfied to know, just by knowing, that he'd made her happy in saying those words. That was all he needed, all he cared about. Quatre felt the clenching of his heart soften and he shot off more bullets.

_I won't kill anyone anymore. Nor will I allow anyone to be killed. I will find a solution._

It was then that he caught a dark silhouette skulking through the cars, threading his way towards the shooter.

_Trowa!_

More shots were exchanged between Quatre and the would-be assassin and each time Quatre shot he made sure he knew where Trowa was. When Trowa was only one car away Quatre emptied the cartridge out, then ducked down quickly, waiting for the rebuff.

_One shot. Two. A third…._

Quatre waited. A fourth never followed. Slowly rising from his place on the ground he looked over and saw Trowa standing where the shooter had been, a gun in his hands. He sat back down with a sigh of relief and glanced over at Dorothy.

"It's over. Trowa's there now."

Dorothy sighed and relaxed against the car, holding her still bleeding arm. "Finally. And maybe we can find out who the man is working for, don't you think?"

"Yes. I want to know who sent him and who he was after. And if there is any relation to the Christmas fiasco."


	4. What a Night

k2: Uhh…..just…read? Sorry for how lame it still turned out and I am really sorry if, umm…what happens later…well I tried!

**111break111**

Blind Valentine

Ch.4-What a Night

General…

Rated PG-13

**111break111**

Quatre, a great look of concern spread over his face, watched as Dorothy's arm was delicately wrapped in a clean bandage. He was happy to learn that her injury was only a shallow ricocheted, the bullet fragment only wedging slightly into the skins surface rather then imbedding into the arm. One or two field stitches once the bullet was removed and she was (almost) as good as knew.

"You'll want to have that looked at again tomorrow." The EM started when he was through. "And keep the arm in the sling until he says otherwise, alright?"

Dorothy looked at the sling she had been forced to don with great distaste, frowning.

"Alright?" He repeated,

"Right." Dorothy stated. Quatre didn't even need his empathy to know she would chuck it the first moment she got.

When the medics were through with her Dorothy stood up rather imperiously and walked away, a very small thanks falling off her lips. Quatre frowned as she approached, a little disappointed in her reaction.

"That was a just a touch inconsiderate, don't you think?"

"Maybe." Dorothy replied, "And maybe I don't' really care."

"Yeah" Quatre murmured, "I almost forgot who I was talking to."

Quatre turned, a swift movement, abrupt and to the point, that took Dorothy off guard. He turned before he even saw the look of pain that hit her with his words.

But he felt it. Quatre froze as he felt a myriad of emotions and he quickly pulled the thread of empathy away from her, a pain filling his chest. HE cursed himself for his words and turned back to her, but she wasn't even facing him anymore. She was walking towards Trowa and Relena.

"I have given orders to keep this quiet for now." Relena was saying, "the public doesn't need to know more then it already does. So far no one has recognized us for who we are and people think that the sniper was some gun crazy nutcase out on the town. IF we can just keep the investigation out of Milliard and Hiiro's ears for the time being we'll be in the clear."

"Fat chance." Trowa stated

"Trowa's right." Quatre replied, "Knowing Hiiro he'll already know about this. HE may not know of our involvement yet but once he learns where you went tonight…." Quatre trailed off.

"No one ever said I had to tell Hiiro, right?" Relena asked hopefully.

"This may have something to do with Christmas.' Dorothy stated.

"What do you mean?" Relena asked

"That assassin never managed to get his target." Quatre replied, "That means that whoever sent him is still after the target. This may be another attempt."

"So that would mean-."

"The target would be either me or Dorothy."

"You were with me when they got shot at." Trowa stated, "So that leaves you out."

"It's not the first time I've been targeted." Quatre murmured as he remembered a particular incident involving a building full of people blown up just to get to him. "And as of yet none of the attempts have been because I was a gundam pilot. Only a very few people know that truth and that's the way it will stay, for everyone's sake."

"I'm sure Dorothy has more enemies then she can care to count." Relena murmured, "But is there any in particular that would want you dead?"

"Oh, I can think of quite a few." Dorothy's eyes narrowed, "One is even related to me. I'll compile a list."

"In the meantime I think it best we leave." Quatre stated, "Civilians are starting to mill around. If no one has recognized us yet then they will soon with all the commotion over and curiosity starting."

Seeing as how they all agreed with this assumption they all began to get in the car, though when Trowa tried to get in back with Relena Dorothy stopped him, jerked her thumb up front where Quatre sat and got in the back herself. More then a little confused Trowa nodded and walked over to the front passenger side and upon getting in glanced at Quatre briefly. Quatre let out a small breath, rubbed the back of his head and turned the key in the ignition. Understanding, Trowa said nothing, savoring the silence for what it was. Or at least, what silence there _was_ until Dorothy started talking.

"I want to show you something Relena." And her words were followed by movement in the backseat, a small grunt and then "Quatre, where is the lever, or button, or whatever that gets you into the tr-oh! Never mind." A quick 'thunk' and Dorothy grunted again.

Readjusting his rearview mirror Quatre was able to see just what Dorothy was up to, or more to the point, was able to see a full-faced view of her butt. Startled, Quatre pushed the mirror over, a strong blush appearing on his face.

Curious, Trowa moved the mirror himself to see what was going on and saw Dorothy's rear end sticking out as she dug around inside the trunk, her seat having been turned down in order for her to get to it.

"You might want to do that later, Dorothy, in case we get pulled over." Relena murmured.

Dorothy, ignoring Relena's comment, started crawling out with the bag of prizes and her stuffies.

"Quatre and I won all of these tonight." She stated and Trowa allowed Quatre to readjust the mirror back to road visibility as a squeal sounded from Relena.

"Oh! They are so adorable!"

"I know! But take a look at all of these!"

"This would be beautiful if it as real."

In front Quatre was more attuned to rolling his eyes, a gesture Trowa chose not to do.

"Who won what?" Relena asked

"I this and this, some of theses, and Quatre won all of these here-."

"How about this little cutie?"

"Quatre. It was the first prize of the night, Quatre gave her to me. I just love her little bow!"

Quatre felt himself smile. It sounded like Dorothy did have fun tonight, even though it began to end badly with his little slip of the tongue a little while ago.

He began to slow the car down as he came upon a red light and rubbed his head as the after effects of his empathy began to get to him. Every now and then he would get small headaches if he used his empathy in excess, he still wasn't use to full usage of it and he used it to irregularly to give him enough time to adjust.

"Quatre, you just ran a red light!"

Quatre looked at Trowa, startled by his soft pronouncement before replying, just as softly. "No I didn't."

"Quatre-."

"I saw the red light." Quatre interrupted.

Trowa, catching the note of trepidation in his friend's voice, slowly looked at Quatre.

"Explain."

"It didn't brake."

"What are you boys talking about up there?" Relena asked coyly, poking her head up front.

"Nothing." Quatre replied, shoving her head back. "Guy stuff. Umm…gundam stuff."

"Gundam?"

Quatre pressed on the brake again, but he didn't slow down or stop or anything. HE looked at Trowa for a moment and Relena was able to catch the worry in his face.

"What's going on Quatre?" She asked, "And don't lie to me. Something wrong."

Quatre began flooring the break petal frantically. When still nothing happened he frowned grimly.

"The brakes…are out." He stated firmly.

"What?" Dorothy asked sharply.

"I can't believe I missed this!"

"It's fine, we'll just coast to a stop." Dorothy stated behind a false calm.

"I knew this was a bad idea." Trowa murmured, "Is it okay to say I told you so now?"

"Mow is not the time Trowa." Relena growled "And we won't be coasting to a stop anytime soon. The road is going to start declining soon if I remember correctly."

"The traffic is low tonight." Quatre mused, "That may be our only consolation."

"There's nowhere to turn." Trowa stated, "The car is starting to pick up speed."

"I know, I know!" Quatre said, "We're already going 40, if this keeps up we're not going to be able to coast to a stop, nor will I be able to control the vehicle!"

"Now isn't the time to panic, Quatre, we've al been in worse positions."

Quatre ignored Trowa, focusing on keeping the car from swerving out of bounds. IT may only be light traffic, but there were still other cars around.

Then Quatre spotted a gap opening between a set of buildings and, with a relieved smile, he turned onto the road just before he heard a sharp intake of breath.

"Quatre no!"

"What? What did I do?" Quatre asked, whipping his between looking at her and watching the road.

"This road leads to the lake!"

"Lake?"

"Yes! This is the shipping lane!"

"Oh, crap."

Quatre looked around frantically but there was no other place to turn and all the warehouses were locked for the night, their parking lots blocked off.

"We can't even turn around!" Relena stated

Trowa, not all that concerned, reach over and flipped the button for the convertibles top.

"Grab the toys!" Dorothy cried as the canopy began to roll backwards.

"Forget the toys!" Quatre cried in exasperation, but Dorothy was intent on keeping her nights mementos.

Trowa ignored them as he unfastened his seat belt and waited for the car to plunge into the water. He wasn't to worried; the only thing to be harmed from this whole night would be Dorothy's toys and Quatre's car. The only big loss would be the car. They all knew how to swim so as long as they all unbuckled….

Trowa quickly undid the fastening on Quatre's belt, something the blond wasn't expecting as it hit against his arm. Quatre ignored it and looked in his rearview mirror to see Dorothy and Relena stuffing the stuffies inside the bags Relena had bought with the clothes, keeping them close to them. The wind in the car was picking up as the top of the convertible kept rising; a slower process then normal due to wind resistance, and Quatre knew it was going to rip off soon. Already it was beginning to rattle around them and Quatre began to worry that when it ripped off it might hurt one of the girls.

But just as he was thinking about it he heard something snap and the top lurched backward, startling the two in the backseat. Both Trowa and Quatre looked back to see the top over Relena and Dorothy's head, but it hadn't broken all the way off.

"Quatre, we're going downhill now!" Relena shouted through the wind, "The dock is getting closer!"

"Quatre looked back at the front, seeing what she meant. What had been a relatively flat road was now a decline. A small one, but one nonetheless. It leveled out rather quickly, only being there for a specific purpose at that point in the road, but that short decline was enough to send the car speeding, swerving almost out of control, towards the water. Quatre fought with the wheel, trying hard to keep the car from hitting any buildings, and shouted over his shoulder.

"Get ready to jump out! And forget about the stupid bags!"

"No way!" Dorothy cried, "All our stuff is in them! Besides, I just bought this dress, I'm not about to loose it now!"

"The water will ruin it anyway!" Trowa shouted

"You think I wouldn't think to bring a plastic wrap for our dresses?" Relena shouted

"Get ready!" Quatre shouted again, his eyes glued to the waters edge, "And jump!"

Trowa launched himself from the convertible as it ran off the dock, followed closely by Relena who held two bags in her arms. Dorothy, holding bags herself, jumped out the other side of the car and splashed into the water, allowing herself to let go of the bags so they didn't tear apart when she hit the water. When she surfaced she looked around and spotted each of her bags floating near her. With a grim smile she grabbed at each one, managing to snatch them up before they began to sink.

"Well, that was refreshing." Relena sighed as she floated in the water, the two bags resting on her belly.

"Wait." Dorothy looked around the surface of the water, realizing they were short. "Where's Quatre?"

Trowa plunged into the water without another word, a surge of fear erupting inside him, gripping him like a vice. And at about the same time Quatre broke surface, gasping for air.

"Quatre!" Dorothy cried with relief. She swam towards him, the bags forgotten in the water, and grabbed him into a fierce hug. Trowa broke surface near to the two blonds and sunk back down in, his face barley leaving the waterline as he swam over to them.

"Quatre?" Trowa asked, breaking the moment of pleased confusion as Quatre adjusted to Dorothy's fierce embrace. "What happened?"

"I got caught." Quatre replied, "When you undid my seatbelt I never took my arm out of it. When I went to jump out my arm snagged and I slammed my head." Quatre rubbed a growing bruise on the side of his head for emphasis, "I was out of it for a second or two, but instinct took over."

"Good training."

"Good instincts."

"Now what?" Dorothy asked after briefly examining Quatre's bruise.

"Now, we go home." Quatre replied, "My place. I think it's closer."

"It is." Relena stated

"So, who else thought that was rather lively?" Dorothy asked as she grabbed the two bags still floating on the surface of the water.

"I think lively is putting it lightly." Quatre stated

Dorothy handed Quatre the two bags she had, slapped his hat back on his head, then dived under without another word. Quatre, realizing what she was doing, sighed in resignation and waited for her to surface again. When she returned, the last bag in her hand, she smiled charmingly at Quatre.

"Lightly. Yes, that is putting it lightly, but if you think about it, it was also rather fun, don't you think?"

"Fun!" Quatre balked

"Well, if you discount the fact that you got caught in your seat belt, of course."

"Dorothy, someone sabotaged my car! My _car_! _My_ car."

"Quatre, it's just a car."  
"No it's not!" he cried. "It's more then just a car! It's the car my father was going to give me for my sixteenth birthday! It's a special car and someone tried to wreck it!"

"With us in it." Trowa stated flatly. He felt that both Quatre and Dorothy were far from looking at the point of the matter.

Both blonds ignored Trowa as they continued to argue, Dorothy slightly oblivious to the implications of Quatre's argument.

"I still think it was a rather fun ride."

Relena chose to abstain from the argument and swam towards the edge of the dock, Trowa following close behind where he then helped her up the side.

"Dorothy, I think you're just a little unstable in the head." Quatre stated.

"Like meets like." Dorothy replied, "It takes one to know one, Quatre."

"What?"

Dorothy smiled pleasantly, one of her special smiles she reserved for Quatre when she wanted him to feel ill at ease. Of course, as always, it worked.

"Never mind Quatre." She purred as she plucked the bags away from him and swam over to the dock.

Quatre, mystified, watched in confusion as she threw the bags over the side before swinging herself up, not bothering to wait for Trowa's assistance. Then Quatre allowed himself to sink back into the water, content to let himself drown.

"Quatre!" The sound of Trowa's voice carrying under the water brought Quatre to the surface again and he rolled his eyes at the piercing stare of his friend, kneeling on one knee, on the docks edge. "We've got company." Trowa stated as he gave Quatre a hand up, "There are a few night watchmen here on shore, they saw the crash and are on their way over."

Quatre glanced over at the row of warehouses and saw lights flashing around as men came barreling out. "They must have called the authorities." Quatre mused, "It's bad enough what happened at the carnival, I doubt Relena will be able to keep this one quiet. That's two attempts in one night with each one involving the vice foreign minister."

"As well as you and Dorothy Quatre." Relena stated.

Surprised Quatre turned to see both her and Dorothy standing near them, neither one looking all that happy with the developments. "Remember, there are several different ways to look at this scenario and they don't only involve me."

"I know but-."

"No buts." Trowa interrupted. "This is how we're going to do things Quatre. You are going to keep this-," And Trowa pulled on Quatre's sopping hat, pulling it over his eyes, "down and your collar up." Trowa turned to Relena then, pulling her hat down and lifting her jacket color up. "Same goes for you. Let me do all the talking and no one else has to know the exact situation. Yet."

Quatre, irritated, lifted the hat back out of his eyes and glared at Trowa. Trowa, however, was looking elsewhere as those on graveyard shift finally made it over to them.

"It might be wise, Dorothy, to pull your collar up as well." Trowa murmured as he went to meet the men.

Quatre noticed, for the first time that night, that Trowa wasn't wearing his hat and figured he must have lost it at some point during the night.

"Well, this isn't very fare." Relena stated as she shivered slightly in the cold air. "Who put him in charge?"

"Oh, I dunno." Dorothy replied with a grin. "It may be the fact that he is the least likely to be spotted amongst us as anyone of any importance. Not to mention he is the only one of us who has yet to be targeted."

"I thought we agreed I wasn't." Relena spoke up.

"Which time?" Quatre asked dryly.

"This is aggravating."

"Well, it was your idea Relena." Quatre stated, "Therefore this is all your fault."

Relena glared at Quatre who managed to keep a straight face, though Dorothy, on the other hand, found herself snickering.

"We have a ride." Trowa was suddenly next to them, startling the group. "Let's go."

"Gruff but to the point." Dorothy stated dryly, "How commanding."

Trowa led them to the group of men who were dispersing from each other, and focused on one man in particular.

"Hey, are you guys sure your all right?" The man asked them, "I can easily call someone about this."

"No, we're fine Mr. Shiverly." Trowa replied, "The car was old, broken down. The brakes went out, that's all."

Quatre bristled at the comment about his precious car but kept his mouth shut.

"So, where is it you need to go?"

"We were on our way to the Winner estates. We have a meeting with the young Mr. Winner."

"You do, do you? Well, how important. The young aristocrat getting off his high horses any?"

Quatre, startled, felt a hand suddenly reach out; grabbing his own and then Dorothy was speaking into his ear.

"Not everyone thinks your perfect Quatre. This is a good way to see how the general public views you."

Trowa, on the other hand, didn't have to worry about that.

"What kind of question is that?"

"Eh, just general thinking. I mean, he's still just a kid and he has all that money. He thinks awfully high of himself, giving it away like he does. What do you think he does with the rest of it all day?"

"He doesn't just give it away." Trowa replied, "He gives a most of it to charity, yes, but it also goes to help with the Earth restoration projects as well as help funding the Mars terraforming project. He's been supporting refugee's and those that are still suffering from the terrible losses."

"Yeah, that's a front."

When they reached the man's ride what they saw was a large truck able to hold passengers in the front and back. Trowa immediately made his way to the front passenger area as the man got in the front, so Quatre found himself in the back seat with the girls.

"Front." Trowa replied. Sure, Quatre was young and seemed a bit naiveté, but this man obviously had no clue what Quatre was really like.

"Yeah, sure." Mr. Shiverly responded with a wave of his hand. "The kid has to have an image counsel, right? Betcha anything the image is all fake, like every other political official out there, no doubt. I'm sure Miss Dorlian is no better, mind you. Both kids are probably as spoiled as any other snot nose their age, young Winner mostly. I mean, to become that powerful at such a young age…full owner of a multi billion dollar corporation and all."

"And if he's not?" Quatre asked before anyone could stop him. Talking about him like that was one thing, but not Relena.

"Eh? Well, unless you got proof he ain't then-."

Quatre threw his hat off and glared at the man who, looking through his review mirror, dropped the key's he was about to stick in the ignition.

"This proof enough?" Quatre asked.

Clink. The keys said as they fell.

"Quatre I told you to leave that hat on." Trowa, strangely angry, shook his head and turned to Mr. Shiverly who was slowly turning to get a better look at Quatre; swallowing as he realized it defiantly _was_ him.

"M-mr. Winner!"

"Is that how the public views me and Miss Relena?" Quatre asked softly, slightly hurt by the idea.

"N-no! I mean, uhh…."

"Please, the truth." Quatre replied, "Miss Relena doesn't deserve that sort of reputation, she has done nothing but good for the Earth since and during her involvement in the war. Me, on the other had, I've spent the last two years begging forgiveness for my sins, I would appreciate to know if I am succeeding or not."

"Uhh…your…sins?"

"Figure of speech." Trowa stated, "Let's just pretend this never happened, okay?"

"The other two with you-."

"Are no one." Trowa interrupted.

Dorothy, rather amused, felt things falling apart at Trowa's seems. She began to get an interesting idea though.

"I guess our cover is blown, don't you think Silvia?" She stated as she lowered the collar on her coat, nudging Relena in the ribs.

Catching on, Relena quickly nodded, still not speaking but highly amused by Dorothy's gall.

Trowa, seeing something in Dorothy's eye, remained silent himself, wondering what she was up to.

Mr. Shiverly, on the other hand, stared for a minute, placing her face; then went white.

"Dorothy…Catalonia? And Quatre…Winner? Together?"

"Ah, yes, our torrid love affair has been revealed."

"Dorothy, now isn't the time for jokes."

Dorothy grinned at Quatre.

"Jokes?" Mr. Shiverly asked, confused.

"It was just a blind date." Quatre responded, as if in an effort to assuage Mr. Shiverly's fears. "Neither one of us knew the other was here."

"Yes, my friend _Silvia_ and Quatre's…bodyguard, we're in on the idea."

"Can we go now?" Trowa asked, "I need to get Mr. Winner home before he dies of pneumonia."

"Oh, uh…yes. Right."

"Keep quiet Quatre and no has to know that the worlds top leading pacifist and ambassador of peace is here with us." Dorothy hissed in Quatre's ear, "Nor do they have to know about the two attempted assassinations tonight."

"Sorry." Quatre murmured, realizing his mistake by getting angry. It was one thing just being the top ambassador and mister of peace, but she was also the leader of New Cinq and technically still a princess. He really made a bog goof this time.

In the end it took them awhile to get back to the outskirts of town where Quatre's estate resided, but when they managed to reach the rode leading up to it Mr. Shiverly turned to Trowa questioningly.

"You want me to drop you off at the gate or go all the way?"

"The gate!" Quatre said quickly.

"The gate it is."

Quatre felt something slump against his shoulder and when he turned to take a look he saw Relena, asleep, with her head relaxed against him. At first he smiled softly but then he felt a surge of negative emotions and he quickly looked at Dorothy, from whom they seemed to generate. Her hand was slightly fisted with her chin resting against the base while her elbow leaned casually against the armrest on the door. She was staring out the window, the light of the moon reflecting onto her pale skin making it appear ghostly and rather angelic, though he knew she was anything but.

_IS she jealous?_ He thought to himself, as the negativity seemed to stir within her.

When Mr. Shiverly made it to the gate Trowa stepped out of the truck and headed directly for the gate controls, entering in a code sequence. Dorothy, on the other hand, nudged Relena sharply and tapped her forehead.

"Time to get up, Silvia." Dorothy stated coolly.

Relena moaned and slowly opened her eyes, a little confused as to where she was. "We…there yet?" She asked a little groggily.

"Yes. We are." Dorothy replied before she half pulled, half dragged Relena out of the truck. "And please remember that…." Dorothy's voice trailed off and Quatre turned to Mr. Shiverly.

"Sir, I would like to ask for your name and address so as I can send a form of compensation for your services tonight."

Surprised by Quatre's offer Mr. Shiverly turned to look at the young man. "No, no that's okay sir. No need for that."

"Oh, nonesence." Quatre replied, "You have been very good to us tonight and I would like to show my appreciation for that. After all, one good turn deserves another, that is the way I was raised by my father."

"That is a very kind offer Mr. Winner. And again, I am sorry for the misjudgment of you."

"No apologies necessary Mr. Shiverly. I quite understand. I have not been in the public eye so much since the attempted assassination last year."

At first Mr. Shiverly was confused, but then a slight memory came to him. "Oh, yes, that building that blew up! You were supposed to be speaking at a conference."

"Yes. All those people died because me. Only one of my sins that I mentioned before."

"But you had nothing to do with that."

"It doesn't matte, it was till my fault they died." Quatre smiled then. "About that information?"

"Oh, yes. Here have it with me. Just a moment."

"I would also like to send someone to fetch my car in the morning. It, uhh…has some sentimental value, is that okay?"

"Oh, yes. OF course. It will be no problem at all sir."

"Thank you."

Quatre received Mr. Shiverly's personal information and stepped out of the truck with a smile on his face. A false smile, however, as a few of his memories chose that moment to plague him.

"Quatre, are you okay?" Dorothy asked, sensing something wrong.

"Oh, I'm fine." Quatre replied, "Come on, we should hurry. Time isn't exactly my friend tonight."

"Why did you have us dropped off at the gate anyway?" Relena asked with a frown, looking despairingly at the distance from gate to door.

"Simple." Quatre stated as he walked through the open gate "Rashid, Abdul, and Adua are here. I want to try and sneak in without having to face them."

"Sneak?" Dorothy asked, amused

"If they find out what happened tonight I am going to be in a lot of trouble? I'm just glad Ahmad isn't here as well. Then, it would _four _against one."

It took them ten minutes to get to the estate but when they did Quatre groaned when he saw a few lights on. "Anyone think it would be safe to assume the maid is still up?" Quatre asked softly.

"Yes, of course." Dorothy replied, "Plus three angry men, I am sure."

"Great." He looked at his three comrades, then at the door and back to them. "Umm…anyone want to go in first?" He asked innocently

No response prompted a resigned sigh before he entered the mansion where he was immediately set upon by two maids fussing over the lateness of the hour. Not realizing Quatre had others with him at the time they drug him into the den where three obviously angry men sat waiting for him.

"Master Quatre, where have you been?" Rashid demanded as he stood. Adua and Abdul remained where they were, looking from Quatre to Rashid, and back again.

"I told you I'd be gone for the night." Quatre stated

"You're an hour late. You're never late. For anything. We received a call, about a half hour ago, from Miss Noin. She said that Miss Dorlian, of all people, had duped you into a blind date. With that _woman_ no less.

Quatre bristled at the comment, knowing exactly what he meant. "Don't you _ever_ talk about her like that." Quatre hissed as Trowa, Dorothy, and Relena finally managed to get inside. The two maids, after living the den to get a fresh towel and tea, had spotted them coming in and began fussing. Trowa just suggested they take care of Quatre and Dorothy's…things and that they'd be in with Quatre.

"You can fuss over us then."

But when they entered the den, however, they caught what Quatre said and Rashids reply.

"Master Quatre, I cannot begin to believe how you can even stand to be in the same meeting room, with her, let alone allow yourself to spend an entire night with her! She purposefully stabbed you! She tried to kill you!"

"I said not to mention that again!" Quatre shouted

"I apologize, but that is the truth. She is dangerous-."

"Rashid, if I were you I would really stop talking now! Before I am forced to regret any action taken,"

Rashid, startled by Quatre's conviction, stood his ground, but remained silent.

"Dorothy is a changing person," Quatre continued, "She has conflicts inside her that I understand. If anything I appreciate her more to know about those flaws rather then seeing her as the rest of the world does. I will not judge her unfairly and I take in all of who she is. No one, and I mean no one, Rashid, will tell me to stay away from her. You understand that?"

In a strained voice Rashid managed a reply. "Yes, Master Quatre."

"So…what happened?" Abdul asked, quickly changing the subject. "What took you so long to get home? And why, on earth, are you soaked to the bone?"

"That Noin woman said Miss Dorlains brother and boyfriend are on their way over to pick her up." Adua added

"Boyfriend?" Relena asked quickly, catching everyone by surprise as they noticed, for the first time, that the other three were in the room. "You mean…Hiiro?"

"Well, she never said boyfriend." Adua corrected, "But Mr. Yui _is_ on the way."

Quatre looked directly at Dorothy, worried that she had over heard Rashid. She was staring right at Quatre, an unreadable expression on her face, and Quatre did not wish to pry into her feelings.

"So, why is it that you are all soaked?" Abdul pressed

Quatre looked back at the three Maganac quickly, afraid to tell them just what it was that happened.

"Is it the reason you're late?" Adua asked

"They'll find out sooner or later Quatre." Relena replied, "I can't keep this a secret you know, there were to many witnesses."

"Witnesses?" Rashid asked quickly

"Keep what a secret?"

"Umm…well, you see…" Quatre began, "There was a sort of…accident tonight. Two actually."

"What kind of accident?"

"Well, do you remember last Christmas?"

"When you were stabbed?" Abdul asked quickly.

"The assassin you mean?" Rashid prompted

"Yes. Well, there was a shooter at the carnival we were at-."

"Carnival! You said you were going to dinner at Chez Bouquet!"

"And we did!" Quatre replied quickly, "For about five minutes. _Relena_ wanted to go to the Carnival."

"_She's_ more dangerous then Catalonia." Abdul whispered to Adua who had to cough to hide a laugh.

"Who was the shooter after?" Rashid asked

"We're…not sure." Quatre replied

"One of you three, though, right?"

"Not me." Relena stated, "I was with Trowa at the time. Quatre and Dorothy were alone."

"Oh, great. So the assassins are either after Master Quatre or-."

"Rashid."

"Sorry Master Quatre."

"My car is in the lake." Quatre stated with a leveled breath, "The brakes went out. We think they were toyed with. Could one of you please pick it up ion the morning and take a look at it? Mr. Shiverly, the man who gave us a lift here, will be waiting for you."

"So that's why you're all wet!" One of the maids said as she returned with fresh towels. Acting on her own accord she abruptly placed the towels over the four teens and began fussing over Quatre again. "Oh, master Quatre, look at you. You're going to catch your death of cold! And your friends aren't fairing any better!"

"Thank you Jessica." Quatre said as he rubbed at his slightly damp hair. "But it's isn't' all that bad."

"Master Quatre, you fell in a lake while it was 42 degrees out there."

"Teas ready!" The other maid announced as she entered, happily passing cups around, each one filled with warm tea. When she was done she directed her attention to Rashid."

"Have you told him yet?"

"Told me what" Quatre asked

"It's nothing." Rashid replied, looking sternly at the girl while Adua slowly pushed a briefcase beneath the couch. A movement Quatre did _not_ notice.

"Thank you, Amy." Rashid stated pointedly.

"Uh, yeah!" Amy replied, rubbing her head, before she walked off with Jessica in tow.

"I think it's safe to go to bed now anyway Amy." Jessica said as they left, "Master Quatre doesn't look like he's going to drop dead."

"Right."

"Amy and Jess are right." Abdul announced, "And I hate it when they are, but it's real late and we gotta go to bed too. After al, Master Quatre's safe, I'm sure you can handle the rest Rashid."

"Fine with me." The old man stated, still staring at Quatre.

Quatre watched as Adua and Abdul left the room then looked directly at Rashid. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Tell me from the beginning what happened. I will look into things then."

"Yeah, you and a couple hundred Preventers if Hiiro and Zech's have anything to say about it. Can't you wait till then? I'm tired."

Rashid seemed to contemplate his answer for a moment then finally nodded. "So long as we can keep this little tragedy a secret from your sister until it is settled. Do we have deal?"

"Rashid, I wouldn't be that stupid as to tell her."

Rashid smiled and slapped Quatre on the back, a hearty laugh escaping him. "Yes, yes, you would be the last one to tell her. That sister of yours is one insane young lady."

Quatre walked over to the couch and plopped down, dog-tired and still rather cold. He sipped more of his tea and looked up at Rashid expectantly. "Aren't you going to bed?"

Rashid glanced at Dorothy for a moment and then looked directly at Quatre. "You sure that is a good idea?"

"Trowa's here." Was all Quatre said, as if that would be enough?

Rashid nodded and walked out of the room towards his own guest quarters.

There was an awkward silence after that where everyone just stood, or sat, where they were. Then Relena broke the silence.

"Um, Quatre. Were is the, umm…powder room?" She quickly nudged Trowa as she stressed powder room and he looked at her quizzically for a moment as Quatre began talking.

"Oh, go through that door there." Quatre stated as Relena nudged Trowa again. "Then turn at the first left and it's the third door down.

"I'll…take you?" Trowa asked

"Oh, will you? Why thank you Trowa." Relena stated as she dragged him off.

"Well, if that wasn't a little obvious." Dorothy stated

"What was obvious?" Quatre asked, genuinely confused.

Dorothy laughed and shook her head. "Never mind Quatre."

_Never mind what?_ Quatre thought glumly, and then he realized what she was talking about. _I owe Relena so much for this night._ Quatre thought to himself darkly. He wondered, then, if Duo would like to help him with a plan or two of vengeance, but not just for Relena, for his _best friend_ also.

He looked up to see Dorothy standing before the fire, warming herself up and drying herself off. The red and orange flames reflected off her similarly to the moonlight and Quatre felt his heart leap, his belly flip-flop. He found himself wondering just what to do now, now that they were alone again and the night was almost to an end.

_Talk to her!_ His mind screamed. And then Quatre knew what to do.

"Dorothy. Could you, um, come her for a moment?"

She turned to look at him, a little crinkle of confusion marring her delicate brow. Curious, however, she walked over to Quatre and sat down next to him.

"What is it?"

"I think we should…talk. About tonight I mean."

"Really?" She asked, "Are you asking if I enjoyed myself? If so then I would have to say yes, especially the car ride at the end. I found that to be the most enjoyable, didn't you?"

Quatre stared at her for a moment, unsure how to reply, as she smirked a little wickedly.

"I know what your thinking." She stated, "Your wondering if I am sane or not. If I have all my wits about me."

"No!" Quatre shook his head emphatically, "I would never think that!"

"Don't worry Quatre, I get that a lot. Even I myself think about it. I mean, after all. What have I ever done to prove otherwise? For half my life I was obsessed with war and the consequences of those actions. To watch someone die beautifully was all I thought about. My own Grandfather was a splendid display of such beauty, dying in an explosion of belief. I even hid my true feelings from the world considering the matter, hiding inside a wall of indifference. I didn't…I didn't want to allow myself to get close to anyone, so my façade became a sort of morbid reality for me.

Quatre stared at her, bewildered. He wasn't sure how to talk to her about this, about what was on his mind. He cared for her in a way he had never cared for anyone, yet she scared him so badly! But one thing he did know was that if she continued to live in the past she would never get on with her future.

And then Quatre found his hand reaching out to her, lying across her shoulder in a comforting fashion.

"Please, Dorothy." He whispered, "Don't. Don't do that to yourself. What's in the past is in the past. It's not good to dwell on those things. You may never see the future you were meant to if all you think about is that past."

Dorothy, startled by his kindness, turned to look at him with wide blue gray eyes. She found herself studying him, trying to understand him.

"I don't…understand." She murmured, "I don't' understand you in the least. How can you be so gentle Quatre? So forgiving, understanding? To me of all people, Quatre. I mean, I stabbed you. That big man was right, I tried to kill you. And yet…you don't even seem to care about that. I could do it again, just as easily, and you don't seem afraid." Dorothy turned away from him. "I just…don't understand you."

Quatre thought about that for a moment then spoke again. "I never said I wasn't afraid."

Dorothy looked at him quickly. "What?"

"I'm scared to death of you Dorothy. When I see you, during staff meetings almost everyday, I get these feelings. I don't know how to explain them but they're there nonetheless. And then I get this predatory feeling coming from you. You scare me, I won't deny that. But at the same time…I can't imagine not having you around _to_ scare me."

"You're insane." Dorothy replied, "Absolutely insane!"

"Then maybe…we both are." Quatre replied. "Or maybe we're the only sane ones in the world. The world is full of possibilities Dorothy; make of it what you will. It's your decision." There was a long moment of silence before speech was once again tried, "Dorothy, you asked me a question once. It was last Christmas actually; you asked what I thought about love. I told you I wouldn't know, told you I had no experience. Do you remember what you told me next?"

She blushed and turned her face from him.

"Yes, I remember. I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright Dorothy. And, truthfully, that was actually my first kiss."

Startled, Dorothy looked at him, her eyes meeting his. She was incredulous of the fact; she found it extremely hard to believe. "You're kidding me!"

"No." Quatre replied, "I never really got out much before the war unless I was trying to run away. In fact, the only other girl I really knew besides my sisters was the girl my father engaged me to."

"You're engaged?" Dorothy asked.

"No." Quatre shook his head; "I broke it off a while ago. She wasn't really happy about it, but I told her I wanted someone my own age. She was older than me."

"So am I."

"By only one year though." Quatre assured her, "She was 7 or 8 years older."

"Oh." She bit her lip for a moment, "You seriously mean you've never kissed _any_one before?"

"Not a one."

"Not even Trowa?"

Now it was Quatre's turn to be startled. "Where did that come from?" Quatre asked

"It's not very hard to see." Dorothy murmured, "Anyone could tell from the way you two act at times. I saw it the day you and I had the duel on the Libra. He refused your request to leave him, would have refused it even if I had been to far gone to get out on my own."

Quatre blushed, "That's…complicated." Quatre replied, "And no, not even from him."

"Well, I'm sorry if you think I ruined your first kiss." Dorothy seemed to be straining for some reason for Quatre to be mad at her, to not want her. He wasn't about to let her get away with it, even if she tried to say he was completely gay! (which obviously wasn't the case right now)

"I don't think that at all." Quatre pressed, "What I'm trying to say is, well…. You see Dorothy, that night…I was conflicted."

Quatre let a breath out, trying no to get frustrated. He couldn't understand why it was so hard to let her know that he did like her, a lot!

"The thing is Dorothy, I don't' hate you. And the way you scare me isn't what you think. I thought about what you said. That night during Relena's party. I thought about it and I understand what you meant. At least…now I do anyway. Just take what you want."

"And what is it you want Quatre?"

_Actions speak louder then words._ A voice in his head, clear and precise, prompted the next rush of movement from Quatre. Before he knew what he was doing Quatre had grabbed Dorothy by the shoulders. Before Dorothy even had time to react he was pressing his mouth against hers and Dorothy, startled, could only stare as Quatre moved his hands from her shoulders to wrap around her. But they didn't just wrap around, they wandered around as well. She felt as his right hand began wrapping around her hair, playing with it as it made it's way to her head. His left hand, however, roamed her back, massaging her misgivings away and Dorothy relaxed his arms, opening her mouth just a little, inviting Quatre in.

Being new to this Quatre didn't notice until Dorothy's tongue lightly touched his lips. Understanding Quatre complied to he request and he began to taste, in full, what Dorothy had to offer, the experience she was willing to share.

Heaven reached Dorothy and she wrapped her own arms around Quatre's neck, leaning back, pulling Quatre with her, until her back reached the couch cushions. Quatre was too wrapped up in the kiss to really notice what she was doing and continued to allow her to teach him, accepting his role as the pupil.

And then they broke, Quatre was to unused to kissing to go on a straight single kiss for as long as she could, and Dorothy relaxed her head into the couch while Quatre kissed at her, caressing his lips against her face, her neck, wanting to taste more of her and thriving on everything he touched.

"Oh, Quatre." Dorothy moaned, her thoughts still conflicting with her emotions, "I still don't understand you. How can you not hate me."

"Don't ask me that." Quatre replied through his kisses, "Don't try and find a reason for me to. It wont' work Dorothy."

He reached her lips again and captured them, wanting to keep her words out of this. He locked her inside his mouth and felt heat rise within him, wanting something so badly yet not understanding where this passion was leading him. His hand continued to remain in polite places, not quite ready to make a move anywhere else, but Dorothy, however, was more then ready. She had been ready for a long time and she wanted, so badly, to have Quatre taste every inch of her. Slowly, casually, Dorothy's own left hand began to move away from his neck. It moved so delicately that Quatre wasn't aware of it until it made its way to it's destination. Dorothy had moved her hand to his waste and slowly moved his shirt, wanting to feel his bare skin. She rubbed along his back and side, then slowly reached down along the skin until it reach his jeans and she slowly slipped her hand inside, a motion that caught Quatre by surprise. He yelped, startled, and jumped off her, wide eyed. He saw how unkempt she was and quickly flushed with embarrassment.

Dorothy, on the other hand, smiled seductively as she lay on the couch; still hot with the passion he had started.

"I'm sorry." Quatre murmured, "I shouldn't have kissed you like that."

"I responded didn't I?" She asked with a welcoming nod. "I allowed you to work over me, let you kiss me in a way you've never experienced before.

Quatre's embarrassment eased a little and he smiled softly

"I think it's a little obvious what we both want." She continued, catching Quatre off guard. Her hands wandered down her own body until they reached midsection and Quatre flushed hotly. Her right hand made a little walking motion and she circled around the clasp on her pants. Quatre's eyes widened as she began to flick at it and he quickly rushed to her, grabbing her hands and holding them up.

"No." Quatre stated, "I don't want that."

Dorothy was a little put out and she sat up, running a hand through her hair.

"Then what _do_ you want?" She asked glumly.

Quatre sat down next to Dorothy and rubbed the back of her neck. "I want you." He replied, "But not in that way. You see, I really like you Dorothy. I've been trying to figure out how to tell you all night. I like you, it scares me but I really like you. I can't imagine not having you around and I…I'm really glad that you wanted to merge companies with me. That way I will be able to see more of you more often."

"Really?" Dorothy asked, "You just…like me?"

"Yes. It was hard for me because what I feel for you is far different then the connection I had with Trowa. I didn't understand what was real, what wasn't. Now I do. I want to spend time with you, I don't want to have this barrier between us."

Confused, Dorothy smiled. She didn't understand exactly what Quatre was saying, but it sounded positive. "I like you too Quatre. And I _want_ you."

"Uhh…that'll have to wait." Quatre stated, reaching his hand into his pocket.

"Ah, an old fashion type of guy. How romantic." She added dryly.

"To show you just how much I mean it I want o give you the ring you made me win today."

"I didn't' make you do anything." Dorothy replied.

"And yet I kept on trying anyway." Quatre smiled as he pulled the little plastic ring out. "I want to use it as a symbol Dorothy, that between you and I. But first, I need to share a secret with you. An important secret, but one I dot' want to keep from you. And the trust is what this ring will signify."

"Yes?" She asked, highly interested

"It's a sort of…trump card that I use when I feel it's necessary. You see, Dorothy, I have this…ability."

"An ability." Dorothy repeated. "What kind of ability?"

"I can…read…and sense…your emotions."

"My what?"

"It's called empathy Dorothy. It's one of the abilities those born in space develop. It's been dormant in my family for a long time and it awoke in me. It links me, Dorothy, to space. The Spaceheart.

Dorothy stared at Quatre for a moment, confused. "The…Spaceheart?"

"Yes." Quatre replied, "I don't understand everything, almost all records of its occurrences have been destroyed in some form or another. All I know is that I am one. I at first thought Hiiro was one at the end of the war but not anymore. He's different. Similar, but a little unnatural at it. He has no abilities, nothing to justify my claim.

"A Spaceheart." Dorothy murmured, "I've heard stories. 'The soul of the Universe' they are sometimes called. Amazing. I thought it was only a myth."

"So did I." Quatre replied, a little embarrassed at Dorothy's title. "I never told anyone before. Well, except Trowa of course. It's actually kind of the reason Trowa and I had such a deep connection, why the others I had also had a connection with each other. Trowa seems to think that if I hadn't been there that they never would have teamed together in the end, that I brought us all together as a team. None of them know, however, and only two other people do know. Rashid and Iria, my sister. Iria has known for a long time, even before I did. Rashid seemed to figure it out over time. And now you know."

"Quatre." Dorothy's eyes sparkled with tears, "I'm honored you would entrust me with this secret."

"I felt it was important that you know. Especially if we are to see each other again casually. I don't like to intrude on others feelings, but when someone feels something strongly I can sense it. Mostly if I want to feel something I would have to delve in, place a thread of my gift on them in order to feel things, but I am strongly against that. And then there are other times when a person has such strong emotions that I can't help but register them. I don't mean to, it just happens."

"Quatre, say no more." Dorothy stated, "I'm just so happy your willing to share this with me and what it means that you are."

Smiling, Quatre placed the little plastic ring on her pinky finger. Dorothy examined the ring for a second, then lowered her hand and examined Quatre's face with a smile. Quatre wanted to reach out and caress her, but he knew if he did he'd want to pull her in for another kiss, one that he didn't think he would ever break away from. He found that to be a rather bad idea under the circumstances. So they just sat there for a moment, staring deeply into each other's eyes.

"You two together yet?" Relena asked bluntly as she came back in, startling the two on the couch. "I'm tired of hiding in that bathroom by myself."

"What happened to Trowa?" Quatre asked.

"He went to bed."

"Oh."

"So?"

"I guess you could say we did." Quatre replied

Relena, frowning, walked up to them and looked at them closely. After a moment she grinned and stepped back. "Finally!"

"By the way Relena, your not a very good matchmaker." Dorothy stated.

"And why would she be?"

Relena whirled around at the sound of her brothers voice and the three of them saw both Zech's and Hiiro standing at the den's door, neither one having bothered with the doorbell.

**111break111**

k2: Okay, I am thoroughly embarrassed. I am so not used to doing those kind of scenes. Did you guys find anything wrong with it Sorry for any OOCness that appeared, I tried to keep things as in character as possible. I sure hope it worked.

MK: Man, when you revise, something, you revise it! I mean, look at this thing!

K2: Yeah, tell me about it.

MK: Care to explain the whole conversation at the end for those catching this thing for the first time?

K2: Watch the show. Quatre says it at the end. There are actually two versions, one is the Japanese, the other dubbed. Not sure which is which, and one of them might be a little wrong.

**111break111**

Version one:

Quatre: Heero, I see now. He's the soul of the universe

Version two:

Quatre: I understand now... the space heart is him...

**111break111**

As you can see I am a little confused. I found both versions in a script, but can't find the script for the top version. The site closed down. The other one, however, can be found at as well as a lot of other information, scripts, and summaries and stuff.

So yeah.

MK: And even if the first one is wrong, and it was spaceheart there also, the term Soul of the Universe is alive in gundam wing.

K2: It was listed as another titled.

MK: There are also some other things, in the show, that show Quatre as a special person.

K2: Those are as follows:

1: the time Quatre felt Hiiro's physical pain when he self-destructed.

2: His connection with Trowa and the others. He seemed to feel the same way with _them_ as Trowa but only Trowa responded, they didn't. At least…not until later anyway.

3: Quatre's feelings for Trowa were accentuated by the empathy he felt towards Trowa, being knew to his powers with no real clue he had them at the time he was feeling things he didn't understand completely due to his naivety of the world around him.

4: There is also the part where Hiiro and Quatre were left alone in space, when Hiiro tried Zero fort the first time. Quatre felt what was in his heart; a golden aura seemed to surround Quatre's hand or something.

5: It is also documented that it is a rendition of the Newtype theory. Therefore _I_ theorize that it's a _mutation_ of the new type gene. You see, Gundam Wing is a whole different universe. _Supposedly_, but I say it's the same. I have thought long and hard on this, for a long time too. All will be explained thoroughly in Gundam Wing Generations so read that for more info. And with that said….

MK: Sayonara minna-san!

K2: Till next time!


End file.
